p 




SCRIPTO-RATIOML. 



CONTAINING THE SUB STANCE OF 



SHAKER THEOLOGY. 




" The Supreme good in the mind is the knowledge of God, and the highest virtue of the 
mind is to know God." —Spinoza. 

" There is no soul so feeble but that, well directed, it may attain to absolute control over 
the [animal] passions."— Descartes. 

" And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ 
whom Thou hast sent. "— Christ. 




TOGETHER WITH 



REPLIES AND CRITICISMS 



LOGICALLY AND CLEARLY SET FORTH. 




Bishop of South Union, Ky. 



THE 



SHAKERS, N. Y. 
SHAKER MANIFESTO. 
1879. 



CONTENTS. 



No. PAGE. 

1. Harmony of Truth 1 

Duality of God 5 

2. God — Indivisible 7 

Three kinds of Happiness 12 

3. God — Immutable 14 

The Trinity 15 

4. Retrospection 22 

5. True Happiness 29 

Plato and Locke 31 

6. Cause of True Happiness 36 

Mission of Truth 38 

Final Consummation 45 

7. Abstract Evil 46 

Perverted Amativeness 51 

8. God's Love 56 

9. Scripture Analysis 65 

Revelation subject to Reason 69 

10. Pre-existence and Godship of Christ 75 

Christ, in the Female 83 

11. Christ, the Son of God 87 

Jesus, the Christ 93 

12. Types of Christ 98 

Mysteries explained 99 

13. Christ's Second Appearing 107 

14. The Devil 114 

Spinoza 120 

15. Bible Metaphor , 122 

Joshua's Command 125 

16. Conception of Christ .. 129 

17. Orthodoxy and Spiritualism 137 

18. Tyndall criticised 144 

19. Rev. Dr. McCosh criticised 151 

20. Logic of H. W. Beecher dissected 161 

21. The Shaker Problem .167 

22. Analysis of Shakerism 173 

23. Has Jesus any followers ? 179 

24. Defense of Shakerism 183 

25. God's Word 189 

26. Literal Resurrection, reply to Rev. Dr. Talmage 193 

27. The Judgment of Sin 201 

28. Infidel mistakes, reply to Colonel R. G. Ingersoll 211 



PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 



This Book of Sermons scarcely needs a preface. The author 
and orator began life among the Shakers when less than one year 
old, and may therefore be supposed to be excellent authority upon 
Shaker theology. It is the first book ever written for publication, 
by an individual whose whole life has been consecratedly devoted 
to and guided by the principles of Shakerism ; and the tenor of 
the discourses denotes u words fitly spoken, like apples of gold and 
pictures of silver." The sermons embrace nearly or quite every 
feature of Shaker polity, and will be highly appreciated by very 
many as a book of reference upon the subject of Shakerism. That 
the author is a most excellent representation of what Shaker prin- 
ciples can do for a man, we are only proud to vouch therefor ; and 
we feel a certainty that in the perusal of the following pages by 
the seeker after truth, the reader will feel the hallowed influences 
of one who has been with the Christ, and who walks and lives with 
the Christ ; and will also realize that he is one of the " Saviours to 
come upon mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau." To the rear- 
ing of such individuals as Saviours is Shakerism devoted. That it 
is successful, as evidenced in the author of these Sermons, gives a 
renewed confidence that Virgin Purity, Non-resistance, Peace, 
Equality of Inheritance and Unspottedness from the world — the 
fundamental prijiciples of Shakerism — have not been, nor are 
they preached and practiced in vain. 



HARMONY OF TRUTH. 



I begin my discourse with the enunciation of two or three 
aphorisms : neither of which, I presume, any honest, unbiased 
mind, of ordinary comprehension, will have an inclination to 
gainsay ; for they consist of a simple declaration of the harmony 
of truth. 

First. — All truths, both spiritual and natural, harmonize. 
One truth cannot be opposed to another truth ; hence, any two 
statements or propositions that antagonize or conflict, one or the 
other, or both, must be false. 

Secondly. — In the end, nothing but truth will have been or 
can be advantageous to any soul ; hence, it would be wisdom in 
us to cast off all prejudice and prepossession, and make any 
required sacrifice to obtain the " knowledge of the truth, " 
especially that sacred truth by which we expect to obtain our 
redemption and the salvation of the soul. It is necessary that 
some of our discourses should be mainly argumentative or 
theological, from the fact that mere declaration of truth, 
scriptural or otherwise, does not in this day seem to satisfy the 
inquisitive mind, and people must learn to think correctly before 
they can either speak or act correctly. 

Well nigh two centuries ago a certain philosopher penned the 
following : 

First. — ■ That a man use no words but such as he makes the 
sign of a certain determined object in his mind in thinking, 
which he can make known to another. 

Secondly. — That he use the same word steadily for the sign 
of the same immediate object of his mind in thinking. 

Thirdly. — That he join those words together in propositions, 
according to the grammatical rules of the language he speaks in. 

Fourthly. — That he unite those sentences into a coherent dis- 
course. Thus, and thus only, I humbly conceive, can any one 
preserve himself from the confines and suspicions of jargon. 



2 



Hakmony of Truth. 



Were all men to observe these rules, which I most sincerely 
approve, there would be but little difference among men on any 
subject. With their terms clearly defined, strictly applied and 
adhered to, no two really honest men can very widely differ ; 
each would yield in turn in theology and ethics, just as they are 
compelled to do in mathematics. 

Every rational creature will admit that the salvation of the 
soul is, or should be, paramount to every earthly consideration 
whatever ; and he who fails in the attainment of this fails in all, 
and he who is fortunate enough to secure this lacks in 

o 

nothing that is worth contending for. "For what is a man 
profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? " 
or " what shall a man give in exchange for his soul." Matt, xvi, 
26. Since then, from these words of our Saviour, a man's soul is of 
more value to him than all worlds beside, he ought to be willing 
to forsake the world, with all its habits, customs, maxims and 
practices, for his soul's sake. 

It appears that this globe now contains over 1,100,000,000 souls, 
and there are eleven hundred different religions — one creed, if I 
may so speak, for every hundred millions, differing from all the 
rest ; and, as there can be but one right way, a hollow cry comes 
up from the " vasty deep " asking which one of the eleven 
hundred is right ; any line diverging in the minutest degree 
from the right one must he wro?ig, and the further it is traveled 
the more distant the traveler will be from the right way ; hence 
it becomes a matter of the utmost importance for each one to 
know he is right — not to guess at it, but know it. You will ask 
me, then, if there is any possibility of acquiring this knowledge ; 
and in response I give an affirmative answer. In the words of 
the Saviour, as to the doctrine, he says : " My doctrine is not 
mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His will he shall 
know of the doctrine whether it be of God," etc. Matt, iii, 8. 
Not guess at it, but know. As to His true disciples and follow- 
ers, He has given us one criterion or mark — and one only — by 
which they are to be known: u Ye shall know them by their 
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ? " 
But after all this, and without troubling yourselves to look into 
the different sects for the good fruits, which are the only real evi- 
dence, you rest in your easy chair, simply saying you know 

" The good must merit God's peculiar care, 
But who but God can tell us who they are ? " 



Infinity of God. 



3 



thus giving evidence of one of two conditions, viz.: Your own 
lukewammess and lack of interest in your soul's salvation, or 
your infidelity respecting the existence of any religious body 
where those fruits can be found ; and some of you, when you 
have found the fruits and acknowledge them, then find fault 
with the doctrine — at the same time acknowledging you do not 
keep the commandments of God ; and it is only such that should 
know of the doctrines or should presume to judge them. 

Nearly all men agree that among the thousand forms of relig- 
ious belief some one must be right, and, as before said, the conse- 
quence is, that every other one that essentially differs with it 
must be wrong and inadequate to the purposes of salvation. 
Every religious system has for its foundation or formation some 
reference to a Supreme Being or Beings, who is, or are able to 
reward its followers for well doing, and punish them for evil 
doing, and, as this seems to be the beginning of religion itself, 
I purpose offering a few remarks on this subject. I shall try to 
remember what I said in the beginning respecting the necessity of 
having distinct ideas in the mind, defining terms, etc., for I by 
no means wish to leave the thoughtful part of the audience, es- 
pecially, in the dark respecting my own position. Laying aside 
all others for the present, I bring myself to the ground called 
Christian, whose religious systems have been taken from this 
Book — the old and new Testaments ; and so multifarious are the 
forms derived from the same reading that it seems to almost jus- 
tify the remark, that, 

<l Faith, gospel, all seemed made to be disputed, 
And none had sense enough to be confuted." 

I am not so uncharitable as to conclude that this state of things 
has arisen entirely from the dishonesty of the race, but rather 
more from education, prepossession, and a want of distinct ideas, 
clear definitions of terms, and their consistent application. 

GOD, UNITY AND DUALITY RECONCILED. 

~No critical Bible student can fail to have taken cognizance of 
this truth : that throughout sacred writ God is spoken of in two 
senses, the infinite and the finite, or subordinate sense. Thus, 
whenever God is spoken of as coming, going, traveling personally 
from one place to another, it then must be understood in the^ 
nite or subordinate sense ; because in this sense He is considered 
as being less than something else. If He travel, there must be 



4 



Harmony of Truth. 



some place where He is not, to which He is going ; hence, He must 
be circumscribed. We cannot help associating with such being 
the idea of extension, figure, size, etc., — such as angel or man. 
Also, when God is represented as having forgotten something, 
not knowing, or changing His mind or purpose, it is understood 
as speaking of God subordinate, not infinite. Of the Infinite, or 
Supreme Being, it is truly said, " His purposes alter not — He 
is without change or shadow of turning." The same holy writ 
makes the distinction clear by the saying of Christ. When ac- 
cused by the Jews of making himself God, He showed them that 
they were " called gods unto whom the word of God came.'' 
Moses was God to the children of Israel in this subordinate sense : 
" And the Lord said unto Moses, see, I have made thee a god to 
Pharaoh ; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet," etc. 
Exodus, vii, 1. Joshua was called Jehovah. Elijah, God the 
Lord, etc. To the careful reader the distinction is clear./ But 
God, when spoken of as " the All and in all," " in whom we live 
and move and have our being," is understood to be the " Eternal 
Unity," the " Infinite " Jehovah, and He it is whom we have 
assembled here to worship, and Him only. Almost without ex- 
ception every intelligent, unbiased mind, with whom I have come 
in contact, acknowledges that God in the supreme sense, is Infin- 
ite spirit-indivisible, immutable, uncaused, self-existent, omnis- 
cient, and omnipresent-filling immensity — the creator and arbi- 
ter of the Universe, permeating all worlds and all existences at all 
times, which remove the necessity of His going and coming. But, 
strange as it must appear, many good-meaning persons, after this 
admission, stultify themselves by admitting a plurality of supremes, 
or divisibility in the Supreme, to favor some theological dogma 
or scheme of redemption, that they have fixed in their own minds, 
or others have fixed there for them. The merest tyro, having 
taken but his first lesson in inductive philosophy, cannot help 
realizing the fact that an infinite existence is indivisible. Truth 
never conflicts. The term infinite signifies " without bounds." 
This seems to be either forgotten or ignored. We say of space 
that it \&. infinite, but draw a line through it ; we then have two 
finite spaces, when infinite space disappears. I know it may be 
argued that a line beginning at a given point and extending in 
any direction without end may be called an infinite line, and that 
this idea might, by parity of reasoning, be applied to dividing 
space ; and even should this be conceded as sound reasoning, 



Duality of God. 



5 



which I deny, the same cannot be applied to an infinite being or 
existence. Tims, I think it clearly demonstrated that such a thing 
as an infinite plurality, or plurality of infinites, is impossible. 
I am aware that we are believed to hold to the dogma of duality 
in Deity, male and female. It is repugnant to reason it. But I 
will try to clear this point. It is admitted by all that of the at- 
tributes ascribed to Deity some are considered masculine, others 
feminine ; and hence comes the idea of Father and Mother of the 
universe. We admit the revelation of these attributes of the 
Eternal Unity by son and daughter ; that is to say, God as 
father, or the fatherly character of God, was revealed by the Son, 
Christ Jesus / and God as mother, or the motherly character of 
God, was revealed by the daughter (Ann Lee). Thus, " God 
manifest in the flesh," not of man only but also of woman, male 
and female, constitutes the duality of God, and dual only in this 
subordinate sense being equally manifest in and through finite 
human beings, who are dual, male and female. Thus the appar- 
ently conflicting ideas of unity and duality are reconciled. In 
this I can perceive nothing irrational, nothing but what any dis- 
passionate, reasonable mind would readily admit. I will, how- 
ever, very frankly allow, that, any man who should declare that 
God in the highest sense was the Eternal Unity, and afterward 
declare he was the Eternal Duality, or Eternal Trinity, {Eter- 
nal Three) would stultify himself, because either of the latter 
would negative the former, and we should not know at last what 
the man did believe. I fully concur in the remarks of John Locke 
on this subject. " Every deity " that men own above one is an 
infallible evidence of their ignorance of Him, and a proof that 
they have no true notion of God (in the highest sense) where 
unity, infinity, and eternity are excluded." But if, as Christ says, 
" they were called gods, unto whom the word of God came, that 
the scriptures might not be broken," I have no difficulty in ap- 
plying this high term in the subordinate sense to the Son of God. 
Nor would I exclude Jeremiah from among the number of the 
<k prophets of the Lord," for applying the same high title to the 
daughter. " This is the name whereby she shall be called : The 
Lord our righteousness." Jer. xxxiii, 16. Perhaps I have drawn 
too largely on your patience, but I wished to make a fair begin- 
ning, so as to leave no one in the dark, to carp at our doctrines 
without understanding them. We claim that the son and daugh- 
ter already named now stand at the head of the new creation of 



6 



Harmony of Truth. 



God, and we, their children, in the " unity of their spirit and the 
bond of peace," are striving to follow their example, .by obeying 
their teaching and walking as they walked, and by so doing have 
found that peace which this world can neither give nor take away, 
and may become " heirs and joint heirs with Christ," who has 
said : " Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world ; " the 
" prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me," " and to 
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, 
as I also overcome and am sit down with my Father in His throne." 
Rev. iii, 21. These are the great and glorious promises to all 
who will take up a daily cross and follow Christ in the regenera- 
tion — not generation, but ^-generation ; not to those who have 
a blind faith in his atoning blood and still lead a worldly life ; 
but to those who " walk even as He walked," and " have followed 
Him in the regeneration." And the invitation is now extended 
to every sin-sick soul. To every one who " panteth after right- 
eousness as the hart for the water-brook," we " say come, without 
money or without price " and " partake of the waters of life freely," 
for now has come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our 
God and the power of Christ. Rev. xiv, 10. 



GOD INDIVISIBLE, 



There are three things I know, and the fourth I strongly be- 
lieve. These are : First, I must convince you that you are in 
error, and building on a sandy foundation, instead of the rock of 
truth ; and, secondly, must convince you that we are right and 
building on the true foundation ; and, thirdly, must convince you 
that by entering the fold, adopting our life, and submitting to the 
law of Christ, as you can be made to understand it, you will 
thereby be rendered more happy in this life, and be assured of 
eternal life and heaven in the world to come. And additionally, 
I am strongly impressed with the belief, that, after having been 
fully convinced of the facts as we see them, few of you will for- 
sake the world for Christ ; for truly He hath said : " For wide is 
the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and 
many there be which go in thereat ; and straight is the gate and 
narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that 
find it." Matt, vii, 13, 14. " Strive, therefore, to enter in at 
the straight gate, for many will seek and shall not be able." When 
once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, 
and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, 
"Lord, Lord, open unto us, He shall answer and say unto you, I 
know you not whence ye are." Luke xiii, 21, 5. Sorrowful as 
it is, I feel a strong degree of certitude that this will be the con- 
dition of the most of you unless you take warning, turn from the 
world, and strive — yea, agonize — to " enter in at the straight 
gate." That the nominal professors of Christianity are in error, 
both in faith and practice, and that none of their schemes of sal- 
vation will insure to them either happiness or heaven, here or 
hereafter, I do most conscientiously believe. They being under 
the " veil of the flesh," imbued with its lusts, are in spiritual 
darkness ; hence all, or nearly all of their ideas concerning God 
and Christ — their true character and their demands upon them — 
must necessarily be imperfect. 



8 



Acceptance with God. 



After admitting, as I presumed you to do, what was said in 
a former discourse, that the Supreme Being was infinite in His 
existence, in order to maintain jour consistency, you cannot attach 
to His being plurality in any sense, and His indivisibility precludes 
the possibility of making either two, three, or more of the same 
being. His immutability also debars you from any change in 
Him, either in thought, Avord, state, character or deed. His om- 
niscience being acknowledged, there is nothing but what He 
knows. His omnipresence admitted, there is then no point of 
space where He is not. 

Can you not then see the inconsistency and impertinence of those 
sonorous invocations, vehement utterances, loud vociferations and 
demands upon, as well as instructions, given to God, which we so 
frequently hear from your pulpits and in your public assemblies, 
as though God were deaf or " had gone on a journey," or at least 
was not nearer than the lower strata of clouds ? I am glad, how- 
ever, to admit that some are honestly sincere, occupying, as best 
they can with their present light, the talent God has given them ; 
such will be accepted of him. For saith the apostle : " Of a truth, 
I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every na- 
tion he that feareth Him and icorketh righteousness is accepted 
with Him." Acts x, 35. But acceptance merely is not salva- 
tion^ as Jew, Gentile, Pagan, ITahomedan or heathen, are all 
alike accepted of God, who live up to the best light that He has 
vouchsafed to them ; but there is only one way to be saved, that 
is, to " walk as Christ walked," and " overcome the world within 
as He overcame." Even though some may be sincere, I have lit- 
tle faith in the efficacy of the word from the mouth of a hireling 
preacher. Every servant of God should be a producer. Should 
put his " hands to work and his heart to God," who will give him 
words to speak as occasion demands. But (I wish not to offend) 
there are many who say they are the called ministers of God who 
barter their God-given faculties for gold. What observing 
person has not discovered that where the largest pile of money is 
offered there is the greatest call of God ? For instance : Should 
the people of Logan offer a priest a salary of five hundred dollars 
a year for preaching to them, and the people of "Warren should 
raise the pile to a thousand, who does not know that the call of 
God would be in Warren ? To such one I would say : ' ; Paid 
hypocrite, God is within thee, making up the record which thou 
shalt be obliged to face, even the very motives that actuate thee, 



God Indivisible. 



9 



and by these shalt thou be judged. But whilst the omnipresent 
is within thee, the tribunal and focal power by which thou wilt 
be tried may, at present, be at some distance from thee. " Know 
ye not the saints shall judge the world % " 1 Cor. vi, 2. Paul 
still goes further: "Know ye not that we shall judge angels. 
How much more the things that pertain to this life ? " This is 
doubtless God's order of judgment, who first gave all power to 
the Son, and He in like manner delegated the same to His true 
followers ; hence, to come to judgment is to come to the order 
of God, to repent of, confess and forsake all known sin, and hence- 
forward lead a godly life, "walk righteously, soberly, and godly 
in this present evil world." This is the first link to connect the 
sinner with his maker : " For as I live," saith the Lord, " every 
knee shall bow r , and every tongue shall confess to God." Rom. 
xiv, 11. To confess to God, then, is to confess to the agents of 
his appointing, or to God through them, and by these agents to 
be judged, received or rejected. The meaning I here attach to 
the term confess is to reveal and acknowledge your faults and 
bring your hidden deeds to the light. In this sense it is impos- 
sible for any one to confess to the Supreme, who knows your mo- 
tive to sin before your action, and who was remonstrating with 
you through your conscience at the time of its commission. 
Joshua says to Achan : " Achan, my son, give, I pray thee, glory 
to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him ; and 
tell me now what thou hast clone ; hide it not from me." Joshua 
vii, 19. This is the way and the only acceptable way to confess 
to God — the only way any soul can find forgiveness and gain 
the victory over his sinful propensities, and rise into newness of 
life, and become a branch of the " living vine." The first thing 
that Christ did after His resurrection, was to commission His dis- 
ciples to preach. He said to them : "As my Father hath sent 
me, even so send I you. " " Whosoever sins ye remit are remitted 
unto them ; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. " 
John xxii, 23. But previously He said to Peter, when He pro- 
spectively appointed him head of the church: " I will give unto 
thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatso- 
ever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matt, 
xvi, 19. Thus you cannot fail to see clearly what God's order 
of confession is ; and that the power to loose and bind, remit and 
retain, was committed to earthen vessels, and very justly and ra- 
2 



10 



Confession of Sin. 



tionally so, because every sin that man commits is against him- 
self and his fellow-man. Bat the thief who steals your horse or 
your gold is the very first one to cry out and say he does not be- 
lieve in confessing sin to man ; he would much rather confess to 
the horse he had stolen, or go back in the dark hour of midnight 
and confess to God while he was bitting another. ~Not very dis- 
similar to this is the man who religiously retires to his closet once 
a week and confesses to God, with no calculation of forsaking, 
and perhaps, with the certain calculations that he will violate 
God's law of nature before another day shall have expired. 

Such as these expect to get to heaven by faith in God's mercy 
and in the atoning blood of our Saviour, and not by obedience to 
his commands. But the priest, you say, confesses in public to 
God, acknowledges himself a sinner, and pleads for God's mercy 
for himself and his flock. According to my understanding of the 
term, it is no confession at all ; for he tells you nothing but what 
God and the nock already know. He, like you, confesses that 
he is a sinner, and might have added, O, Lord ! I expect to 
remain a sinner, entirely forgetting the injunction, " Cleanse 
your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." 
James iv, 8, and the unalterable decree, u The soul that sinnetli 
it shall die, " and " He that committeth sin is of the devil." 1st. 
John iii, 8. And so it goes, sinners first, teaching a sinning 
people and encouraging them to live in sin by telling them they 
cannot help it ; thus "The blind lead the blind," and the conse- 
quence is they both "fall into the ditch together." I say not 
these things out of ill will to any mortal, nor do I wish to hurt 
nor offend any soul, but to encourage yon, to enlighten you, and 
to so strengthen you that you may be able to take the apostle's 
advice and find your way out of sin now, in this world, so that 
it may be said to you, " AY ell done, good and faithful servant " 

— not well done, weak and sinning servant, but faithful servant 

— " enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. " " If we say we have 
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ; but if 
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John i, 8, 9. 
Again, some apparently honest minds will say they do not believe 
any man on earth has power to forgive sin. Simple creatures ! 
They do not know this is " rank infidelity," and equal to saying 
they do not believe Christ has any Church on earth. If He has 
not, then no man has the power ; if He has, the power still 



God Indivisible. 



11 



remains in his Church. It follows then that the Church that has 
not this power is not the Church of Christ at all, but some 
spurious concern, gotten up by hypocritical or ignorant men. 
This may serve you as a clew in your search for the true Church. 
You, my friends, may rest assured of one thing — that is, Christ's 
Church is not governed by sinners, led by sinners, filled by sin- 
ners, nor worked throughout by sinners. This kind of a Church, 
one would think, would please the devil a little too well. I only 
use this term Devil in condescension to the general sense. 

I would have you understand, and bear it in mind, that when 
you have confessed your sins in God's order, and, as the apostle 
says, have been " cleansed from all unrighteousness ", you are 
then righteous, and need not sin any more, and consequently 
not be a sinner any more. The wise man said : " He that 
covereth his sins shall not prosper, but who so confessed and 
forsaketh them shall find mercy. " Prov. xxviii, 13. Cover 
from whom ? We cannot cover from the Supreme, who 
" knoweth the thoughts and intents of the heart. " If there is 
any meaning in the text, it is covering from, or confessing to the 
order of God. Then it is he who forsaketh them, not he that 
goes on committing them, that is to find mercy. Much more 
might be quoted from the Bible, on this subject, which is replete 
with evidence of its high authenticity. But, besides this, there 
is a deep philosophy in it, aside from the spiritual cleansing and 
peace of mind occasioned thereby. For how could the physician 
certainly determine what remedies to prescribe for internal 
maladies without a statement from the patient of his internal 
condition ? If a person comes to the church for assistance, how 
could it be known what guards were necessary to be thrown around 
him without knowing his weak points % If he had been addicted 
to the intoxicating bowl, we should be careful not to expose him 
to the temptation of liquor : and just the same with regard to 
other habits by which people may have been enslaved. 

I have now, as I set out to do, endeavored to show you :^ 
First — That you who profess to be Christians were in error in a 
very essential point of doctrine, and consequently the practice 
under it must be inefficacious to a given extent. Secondly — I 
have endeavored to show you from scripture and reason that we 
were right in the first and most essential step into the fold of 
Christ ; and now, Thirdly — I would wish to convince you that 
you would increase your happiness by taking this step and 



12 



Three kinds of Happiness. 



becoming peaceable lambs in Christ's Kingdom ; but I must say 
but few words on this subject at present, as I have detained you 
quite long enough, but must recur to it hereafter. I hope you 
will continue to give me your attention, as I shall, from time to 
time, endeavor to answer the many objections urged against us, 
both by friends and enemies. The one most often repeated is : 
" What w T ould become of the world were all to turn Shakers ? 
That our whole system of religion is repugnant to scripture, 
reason, and the common sense of mankind, and therefore cannot 
exist but a short time at farthest ; " and secondly, "the very fact 
that God made woman and gave her to man to be a help-meet 
for him show T s that it is by this means the world is to be per- 
petuated. It is therefore fighting against God to abrogate the 
relation which he instituted, " etc. These, with many others of 
like character, will be answered by and by, if you will continue 
to give me audience ; and any objections that I should fail to 
think of may be noted by you and handed or sent to me, and 
they shall be respectfully considered, as truth, and truth only is 
what we want. If w T e find we have it not, it will be to our 
interest to be corrected, and certainly we shall be in duty bound 
to thank any of you for its unfoldment. As said in a former 
discourse, error can be of no advantage to any soul, and, seeing 
an error, we shall not strive to uphold it, for 

" Truth crushed to earth will rise again ; 
The eternal years of God are hers ; 
While error wounded writhes in pain, 
And dies auiid her worshipers. " 

It is sad, yet true, that the minister in the pulpit generally 
dares not divulge to the audience all the truths in his possession, 
because they would be unpopular. He must please his audience, 
and hence cannot be the real minister of truth. His bread and 
meat depend upon it, and this seems to have been the case in 
years long past, as expressed by the poet : 

" Pulpits their sacred satire learned to spare, 
And vice admired to find a flatterer there." 

Happiness is of three kinds — spiritual, intellectual, and sens 1 
ual, or animal. The first is found only on the Christ plane, and 
only attainable by the true followers of Christ. The second is 
found by the philosopher, the learned, the astronomer, mathema- 
tician, etc. The third is found on the natural plane. The second 
may combine either with the first or last, but the three cannot 



Three kinds of Happiness. 



13 



combine, for u he that findeth his (worldly) life shall lose it (the 
spiritual), and he that loseth his (worldly) life for my sake shall 
find it (the spiritual), and he that receiveth you receiveth me; 
and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." Matt., x, 
39, 40. This clearly shows that the worldly or sensual life is 
incompatible with the spiritual life of Christ. It is clear that the 
Saviour could not mean that they could both find and lose the 
same life, but the finding and enjoying of one excluded the 
other ; so let the miser and sensualist, and those who are engrossed 
in the things of this world, beware, that whilst they are watching 
and shunning the " Scylla " of what they are pleased to term 
" Shakerism," they fall not into " Charybdis," the deep, dark, and 
" bottomless pit," where their course may be one eternal descent, 
and thus lose their souls forever. 



GOD IMMUTABLE. 



It is written that " the reproof of a friend is better than the 
kiss of an enemy/' If any one should feel wounded or become 
offended at my remarks, let the rising thought be assuaged by the 
reflection that it is a friend that speaks, as most certainly I have 
no cause to be any thing else but a friend to every one of you. 
It is again written, " ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not 
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God ? Whoso- 
ever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." 
James, iv, 4. And again, " God so loved the world that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life." John, iii, 16. The apparent 
conflict here of God loving what He requires us to hate is ideal, 
and explained by the apostle ; " Love not the world, neither the 
things that are in the world. If any love the world, the love of 
the Father is not in him ; for all that is in the world, the lust of 
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the 
Father, but is of the world, and the world passeth away and the 
lusts thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 
1st John, xv, 16, 17. It is clear, then, that those who choose 
these worldly elements, and live in them, are God's enemies. 
This is a good criterion to judge ourselves by. Do any of us 
love the lust of the flesh ? Do any of us love the pride of life ? 
According to the apostle, all whom truth compels to answer 
affirmatively may know they are enemies to God ; and all such 
cannot forsake the world and turn to God any too soon, for with- 
out Him all is lost, but if He be " on our side who can be against 
us?" 

From what I have already said, in respect to Deity, it would 
seem superfluous to add any thing ; yet I feel compelled to say a 
few words more. I am well aware that your divines (?) when 
closely pressed, acknowledge' the Unity of the Supreme Being ; 
but for want of clear ideas, and a consistent application of their 
terms, whenever we question the Supreme Deity of the Son, the 



The Trinity Mystery. 



15 



oscillation commences; and by adroit manoeuvring, and a very 
licentious use of language to sustain a preconceived notion, they 
seem to lose sight of what they have conceded, and so interpret 
words as to make you believe that the terms unity and trinity 
are synonyms — that at least there was a harmonious oneness in 
them — their chief illustration being this : " Water is one sub- 
stance, but the same substance may be either snow or ice without 
changing the substance, there being no change except in the con- 
dition." But God's immutability, already acknowledged, denies 
you even this, but He is ever the same, without change. The 
illustration is, therefore, inapplicable. If, however, we admit 
that the office of water, snow and ice is different, the substance 
is the same, and to make the comparison at all available we 
could only say : God was at one time pleased, another time 
angry, and another time indifferent. We could neither divide 
Him, nor make three beings of Him. According to the illustra- 
tion, God must be all the time God, or all the time the Son, or 
all the time the Holy Ghost, but never at any time all three, each 
with a different office to perform at the same time ; hence the 
comparison fails to answer the purpose intended. Illustrations 
badly chosen always serve to darken rather than to enlighten the 
understanding. 

But these divine reasoners, whilst they declare that the Son is 
the Father still hold that there is a Father aside from the Son, 
because they are unwilling to admit that the universe was with- 
out an Infinite Being, during his sojourn on, with especial atten- 
tion to this mundane sphere. So, when their ideas clash, their 
reasonings clash also. Who can gainsay the words of the poet : 

" All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul ? " 

Some of you little know the disastrous consequences that 
would follow a denial of this. When this is denied His Omni- 
presence is denied. His Omnipresence being denied, His Infinity 
is denied ; and this being denied, makes Him a circumscribed, 
limited, Finite Being. Thence follow the " gross conceptions of 
corporeity," figure, size, shape, etc. And how should He get 
from world to world ? A. universe without a God, only as it 
pleased Him to visit its parts ! This is Atheism — equal to say- 
ing there is no God! Nay, my friends, if there is any part of 



16 



God Immutable. 



space where He is not, He isjmite, and there can be no compari- 
son between the finite and the infinite. 

" Jove's satellites are less than Jove." 

If He is finite in his existence, He is finite in all his attributes ; 
but the reverse of this is true. There is no atom in the wide 
universe without the presence of the divine energy. He, 

" Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees — 
Lives through all life, extends thro' all extent •. 
Spreads undivided and operates unspent." 

But the defenders of the triple-Grod doctrine say the three 
are combined in a " mysterious yet all harmonious union ; " that 
this is a matter of revelation, out of the reach of and above 
the cold philosophy of this world, must be believed or the 
soul be damned ! while if terms mean any thing, we 
have no choice in the matter. ~No rational mind can believe a 
statement that contradicts itself. But there is another difficulty 
— difficulties beset us on every hand. If it is mysterious, how 
do we know it to be harmonious ? This conclusion is clearly hy- 
pothetical. It is impossible for any man to really believe a mys- 
tery, according to my sense of definition of the term. Yet 
mystery seems to be the great whale that swallows all the 
modern Jonahs. A mystery is something hidden from the human 
understanding and beyond human comprehension ; consequently 
something of Avhich the sense cannot take cognizance. A man, 
therefore, cannot believe a mystery. Still it is affirmed that we 
are believing mysteries every day. I admit there are some things 
which persons sometimes carelessly take upon trust, without 
investigation ; but nothing can be really believed but what the 
senses can take cognizance of. If the geometrician tells you that 
the three angles of a plain triangle are equal to two right ones, 
you may take it upon trust, as your senses take cognizance of 
angles. Still, he should demonstrate the problem before demand- 
ing your entire credence. 

The first argument in the mouth of a man who asks you to 
believe a mystery is something like this : The grass grows ; this 
is a mystery, and we believe it. But this, as well as all of the 
kind, is shallow reasoning, so shallow that it is not reasoning at 
all. That the grass grows is palpable to the senses, but how it 
grows we know not, it is incomprehensible ; we, therefore, do not 



Miracles. 



17 



know how to believe how it grows, we cannot believe how it 
grows, because this is a mystery. When the hotv is revealed to the 
understanding the mystery ceases ; we then shall be able to be- 
lieve how it grows, and not before. No man, therefore, can 
believe any thing entirely hidden from the senses or understand- 
ing. A thing thus hidden is the same to us as though we had 
not the senses necessary to belief. This, with the rational mind, 
will answer for any mysterious proposition that may be given you 
from man, relative to God, or the Son of God, including all the 
mysteries of animal and vegetable life. Yet we are thrown back 
to the bible, and told that it is revealed there, from God in 
heaven, that such and such things are mysteries not to be com- 
prehended, but believed on pain of hell's torments if we do not, 
for " great is the mystery of Godliness." Godliness is mysterious 
only to the sinner ; it is not at all mysterious to the men and 
women whose lives are lives of godliness. God is no mystery to 
those to whom He is revealed. Paul, when he arrived at Athens, 
said : " I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious ; for 
as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar, with 
this inscription : To the Unknown God. Whom, therefore, 
ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." Acts xvii, 23. 
God to him was no mystery, else he could not have declared 
Him. 

Some sinning priests, going their rounds through the country, 
are making mysteries of many things — especially things sacred — ■ 
which they urge you to believe, on pain of damnation. If they 
succeed in satisfying you, they well know the good matron of the 
house will have the fatted pullet ready by the time they come 
round again. This is understandable. The only mystery about 
this is, that so many are "taken in." I would here give this 
little piece of advice : If any man should come to your domicile 
to instruct you and your family how to be saved, and is not saved 
himself, you should quote to him the pungent proverb, " Phy- 
sician, heal thyself." It may be confessing too many of their 
sins for them, but such persons generally have quite as much 
interest in the pullet as they have in your salvation. Miracles 
are next urged upon you, especially the great, grand miracle of 
miracles, "revealed in God's word," that the Infinite Jehovah, 
the Creator of worlds, beyond thought, focalized himself in a 
woman, became a baby, a boy, a man, then permitted His fellow 
man to kill Him that He might reconcile it with His sense of justice 
3 



18 



God Immutable. 



to admit the sinner into Heaven, especially all who were simple 
enough to believe the story ! But this story is not as palpable to 
the senses as that grass grows. It so happens that this so-called 
word of God reveals precisely the negative of all this. It is a 
perfect neutralizer. Then, which shall we believe — the reason- 
able or unreasonable ? This Supreme (?) that walked the earth 
says He was the Son of Man. Is He to be believed ? He says 
also He has a Heavenly Father. Is this true ? Xow, that He 
can be the supreme God and son of the supreme God, the father 
of himself, and the father of the father, and father of the son, 
and the son of the son, and son of himself, is not plain to the 
senses ; it not only " admits of a reasonable doubt," but is entirely 
beyond the power of belief to any educated and unbiased mind. 
The proposition utterly annihilates itself before it is half told. 
All this is the result of a wrong education — a biased mind and 
morbid intellect, and can work nothing but injury to the human 
race. 

Having taken the Son from the triple God, it is necessary that 
I should now place Him right in your minds, the son — the ' ; Man, 
Christ Jesus/"' c< For there is one God, and one mediator betwixt 
God and man, the man Christ Jesus " —1st Tim. ii, 5. Xo text 
in the Scriptures shows the truth, and the distinction between 
God and Christ, more clearly than this : First, one God ; 
secondly, one Mediator betwixt God and man ; and thirdly, that 
man is this mediator — not that the Supreme is the mediator, but 
the man, Christ Jesus. How very dull must be the perception of 
the person who cannot see this truth ! 

The subject of the Christ is not an intricate one when divested 
of the far-fetched and extraneous verbiage with which it seems 
to be surrounded and intertwined. It only needs to have the 
smoke and fog that have been accumulating around it dispelled, 
and the cobwebs brushed away, to enable the most common capac- 
ity to comprehend it. I have no sympathy with, nor affinity for, 
a mysterious godliness, nor a theology, nor philosophy, that no 
two can agree upon nor comprehend ; and in order that I may 
proceed understandinglv I will begin at the beginning, and give 
you the signification of the term Christ, and its origin and use. 
If I am right it is important that you should know it. If wrong, 
it is also necessary that you should know how much I am wrong, 
and wherein, I shall quote authority that you will acknowledge, 
taking pains to keep clear and distinct ideas before you. 



Who is Christ? 



19 



Webster defines the term Christ thus : " Greek, Christos 
Anointed, from chrio, to anoint. The Anointed, an appellation 
given to the Saviour of the world, and synonymous with the 
Hebrew Messiah. It was the custom of antiquity to consecrate 
persons to the sacerdotal and regal offices by anointing with oil." 
Thus we see the verb chrio, from which the noun Christos is 
derived, signifies to anoint, the act of anointing. This act, there- 
fore, cannot be called Christos ; neither can the unction — Hebrew 
Semen Meshe, or Greek Chrisma, anointing — be called Christ. 
None but the person anointed, according to Webster, can be 
called or ever was called Christ in past history. Alexander 
Cruden agrees with Webster, and says the Evangelists took care 
to put the people in mind of the prophecies concerning him to 
prove thereby that Jesus was the Christ whom they expected. 
Buck, in his Theological Dictionary, agrees with both Webster 
and Cruden. He says: "He is called Christ because he is 
anointed ; " for this reason, not on account of a miraculous birth, 
but because he was anointed. The learned Richard Watson 
agrees also with what has been said, that the term " as used singly 
by way of aidonomasis to denote a person sent from God as 
anointed prophet, priest, or King." " Christ," says Lactantious, 
" is no proper personal name, but one denoting power ; for the 
Jews used to give this appellation to their Kings, calling them 
Christ or anointed by reason of their sacred unction." But he 
adds : " The names of Messiah and Christ were originally 
derived from the ceremony of anointing, by which the Kings and 
priests of God's people were consecrated and admitted to the 
exercise of their functions ; for all these functions were counted 
holy among the Israelites. But the most eminent application of 
the word is to that illustrious personage, typified and predicted 
from the beginning, who is described under the character of God's 
anointed, the Messiah, or Christ." One mistake our translators 
have made is by too seldom prefexing the article the before 
Christ. The word Christ was at first as much an appellative as 
the word Baptist, and one was as regularly accompanied with the 
article as the other ; yet our translators who would always say, 
" the Baptist" have, it would seem, studiously avoided saying 
" the Christ." The article in such expressions as occur in Acts, 
xvii, 3 — xviii, 5, 25, adds considerable light to them, and yet no 
more than the words of the historian manifestly convey to every 
reader who understands his language. It should therefore be, as 



20 



God Immutable. 



Paul testified to the Jews : " Jesus was the Christ," or the 
Messiah, etc. Watson further adds (p. 522) : " Jesus of Nazareth 
was the Christ," or Messiah promised. That He professed him- 
self to be that Messiah to whom all the prophets gave, witness, 
and who was in fact, at the time of His appearance, expected by 
the Jews, and that He was received under that character by His 
disciples and all Christians ever since, is certain. All lexicog- 
raphers agree with this ; in fact there is no standard work extant 
but what acknowledges that the term Christ signifies the anointed 
person, and is confined to that signification and use. From all 
that I have said and the evidence adduced you cannot fail to per- 
ceive that the term Christ is but an appellative noun — an official 
title of the man Jesus, the same as Baptist was of the man John, 
or the same as " Jones, the Sheriff," or " Smith, the Auditor." 
This is all plain ; easily fathomed by the common capacity. 
What some would veil in mystery, is clear as day when plainly 
stated. It will be perceived, also, that to come from God is 
nothing more than to be commissioned or appointed by Him. 
This coming has no reference to altitude, longitude, nor latitude, 
as many are made to believe. I know this kind of discourse is 
prosy and irksome to many, but I could not, if I would 

" Round the period and the pause, 
And form the rhetoric, clause on clause," 

so as to be very attractive ; but to those who are in quest of 
simple truth, I propose to be of no disadvantage. I beg you not 
to be alarmed, fearing that I may derogate from the character of 
Christ ; for it adds a thousand fold more lustre to His character 
to know that, notwithstanding u He was made in all respects like 
unto His brethren " — Heb. ii, 17 — " tempted in all points as we 
are," He yet gained the victory, that it would be to think He was 
not made in all respects like unto us, but overcame by virtue of 
a higher creation. So, my friends, cheer up, yon have an ex- 
ample. " He left us an example that we should follow His 
steps " — 1 Peter, ii, 21 — not the steps of the supreme God, but 
those of a good man, godly man, or God-man, if you please, and 
if you have the moral courage to " come out from the world," 
and undertake the good work, you will find that salvation is not 
unsusceptible of attainment in this life. Is not this good news % 
Come, then, to Christ ; He will receive you, if you will confess 
and forsake all sin. " For in a little wrath, I hid my face from 



God Immutable. 



21 



thee for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will I have 
mercy on thee, saith the Lord, the Redeemer." Isa. liv, 7, 8. 
Then, oh ! my friends, " seek ye the Lord while He may be found ; 
call ye upon Him while He is near." " Let the wicked forsake 
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our 
God, for He will abundantly pardon" 



RETROSPECTION. 



Before proceeding with this discourse I propose to take a very 
short retrospect of the essential points thus far made. It is not a 
difficult matter to forget acknowledged truths when new ideas are 
brought before the mind, and side issues introduce themselves ; it 
is therefore necessary to proceed cautiously, with a kind of retro- 
action, to insure harmony of thought, so that the past, the pres- 
ent and the future may agree. I have declared to you the har- 
mony of all truth. I have endeavored to impress upon your 
minds the necessity of having distinct and clear ideas, and of 
using well-defined terms, in order to preserve consistency of 
thought and speech ; and also of the necessity of divesting your 
minds of all bias, prepossession or prejudice, and to look at things 
as they are. Locke says, " ISTo man is suitable to investigate for 
truth who has an object in his mind which he wishes to find true ." 
Such person is apt to see truth only on one side. But truth alone 
should be the object, regardless of our desires. This I think is 
my condition. I am not before you to defend any dogma, par- 
ticular theory, nor ism, not even what you are pleased to term 
ShaJcerism, but to aid in removing error, and to unfold to you 
the simple truth as I perceive it. Truth is usually simple, while 
error is complex. 

" For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight ; 
His can't be wrong, icJiose life is in the right." 

I have endeavored to impress upon your minds a truth, which 
we are apt to forget, respecting our Creator, and that is that no 
atom of the boundless imiverse is or ever was without the eternal 
presence; that " the hairs of our head are all numbered ; " that this 
has ever been the case, before as well as since the advent of our 
Saviour ; that all is right, save only man and what man has done, 
and especially have I endeavored to impress you with the great 
and important truth that the ever present God commissioned the 
man, Christ Jesus, to represent Him and to make known His will to 



Retrospection. 



23 



the race, and made him "judge of the quick and the dead ; " and 
that the power thus delegated to Him He delegated to his success- 
ors, and said : " They shall do greater works than I, because I 
go to my Father." John xvi, 12. And at the bar of this tribunal, 
the head of Christ's church, shall all souls be tried in time or 
eternity, and the "first step any soul can take to bring him or her- 
self into harmony with the Creator, whose laws have been vio- 
lated, was by auricular confession of sin to the order of his ap- 
pointing, and thenceforward leading a godly life. Thus, and thus 
only hath a merciful God opened the way for our return to Him. 
But how discouraging it is when the most irrefragable proof is 
set before the mind, that many will not heed it, and would rather 
put their trust in something unproved and unprovable than to 
abide by known and acknowledged truth. A lawyer of some 
note, lately said that, while he could not dispute the truth of the 
indivisibility of the Infinite, yet he believed in the Infinite 
Three ! because, forsooth, it was Bible doctrine, which assertion I 
deny. It seemed impossible for him to fix his eyes or sense on 
any thing else but a judge, two attorneys and a criminal ; believ- 
ing that there is such a court somewhere above the clouds, to at- 
tend to his case when he gets ready for trial; if he expects to get 
to heaven, he must of course think the practice there is somewhat 
similar to what he is accustomed to here. A large enough fee, 
adroit pleading, etc., will somehow clear the culprit, and thus, in 
common parlance, " cheat the devil out of his dues." A certain 
preacher also said : "deprive me of the imputed righteousness of 
Christ, and I am damned, sure." Not so, friend. Your damna- 
tion will be in the precise ratio of your willful violation of God's 
laws, and your justification in exact proportion to your obedience 
to them. Be not fearful, for God is just, and will do as he has 
promised — " reward you according as your works shall be." It 
matters little what people profess to believe. The truth is, no 
man can believe the affirmative and negative of a proposition. 
When he thus affirms, it is evident that he is either dishonest 
or remarkably weak. Such a person might receive instruction 
from some who are called pagan. In his Phsedo of the soul, 
Plato says : "It appears to me that, to know them clearly in the 
present life, is either impossible or very difficult. On the other 
hand, not to test what has been said of them in every possible 
way — not to investigate the whole matter, and exhaust upon it 
every effort is the part of a very weak man. For Ave ought in 



24 



Retrospection. 



respect of these things either to learn from others how they stand 
or to discover them for ourselves, or if both of these are impossible 
then, taking the best of human reasonings, that which appears 
the best supported, and embark on that, as one who risks himself 
on a raft to sail through life." 

Such a man, let him be either Pagan, Mohametan or Christian, 
is head and shoulders above any one who professes to believe the 
contrary sides of a proposition, such as the existence of an infinite 
indivisible one, and of the same being as an infinite divisible three! 
And moreover, I feel quite sure that an honest, truthful pagan is 
much nearer the Kingdom of God, than a dishonest, equivocating, 
falsifying professor of Christianity. How many there are who ac- 
cept the mere " letter of the Bible that killeth, and reject the 
spirit (of truth) that giveth life." 2 Cor. iii, 6. I have always, 
not only been taught a due veneration for the Bible, but also the 
greatest veneration for truth, as I became able to perceive it. 
Xothino; either in or out of the Bible can be believed to be true 
unless its truth can be perceived, and a truth unperceived can be 
binding on no one. The Bible makes no such declaration as that 
of a three-fold God, nor of a first, second and third person in one 
God. Such terms as trinity, triune God, etc., are not to be found in 
the good book. They have been coined in the jumble of thoughts 
of inconsistent sectarians, as a foundation on which to build or to 
bolster up some particular creed. I have further endeavored to 
show, producing evidence that could not be disputed, that Christ 
signified anointed / that the term cannot by any rational con- 
struction be applied to any human being, nor angel, without such 
being anointed or appointed to consummate some special work, 
or perform some new mission for God — that is to say Christ is a 
God-appointed agent. The term means this, nothing more, 
nothing less. 

I have further striven to impress the truth, that the Bible 
speaks of three worlds or creations. The Biblicist will acknowl- 
edge that Moses and those after him, till Christ, spoke of two 
worlds, viz. : First, the visible creation, heavens and earth, moon, 
stars, etc. ; and secondly, the " old heavens and earth " that were 
to " pass away with a great noise," at the ushering in of the " new 
heavens and earth," some time, called world or worlds / and that 
the Evangelists wrote only of the " New Heavens and Earth." 
Should we forget these truths, Alps on Alps arise before us ; but 
keeping them in view, all obstacles vanish, and our way is plain. 



The Word of God. 



25 



With some, it matters not what amount of evidence is brought 
forward, if it does not accord with their understanding of certain 
texts of scripture, it is all coolly set aside, and the Bible text relied 
on. Hence, it becomes my next duty to examine some of the 
principal texts supposed and believed to declare the existence of 
Christ, in and with the Creator before the formation of man, or 
even the creation of the visible universe. It will at once be seen, 
that, after admitting the authority I have introduced as true and 
reliable, we cannot consistently admit the pre-existent theory. If 
we admit the latter, the former must be rejected. 

The text usually first introduced on the side of the pre-existent 
theory is found in John's gospel, 1st and 14th verses, as follows : 
" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God ; " * * * " And the Word became 
flesh and dwelt amongst us." The first thing to be considered in 
the text is the term beginning. What beginning f According 
to what we have said, it must be the beginning of God's new cre- 
ation. Christ was there. The whole, however, is metaphorical ; 
but metaphors have need to be understood. This metaphor, 
then, consists in calling God's word, or the medium through and 
by whom the word was conveyed, God Himself. When I say the 
word is God, I mean it conveys His will and mind to me, which if I 
obey then, I obey God ; if I disobey, I disobey God ; and in this 
sense, is the same as God. The word became Jesus Christ in the 
same way and by the same rule that it became God. He received 
the word, mind, or will of God ; that mind or will became His 
mind and will ; His mind and will was then Himself. Then it 
was Jesus Christ, who was flesh and blood, that " dwelt amongst 
us." To obey that man, therefore, was to obey God. Other 
metaphors exemplify this. We say we read Moses when we read 
his laws ; we preach Christ, when we preach His doctrine. The 
apostle fully sustains the view here taken with respect to the be- 
ginning. In his first epistle he says : " That which was from the 
beginning, which we heard, which we have seen with our eyes, 
and our hands have handled." It is clear that his hands had not 
handled any thing in the beginning of the old creation ; but with 
the new he had been conversant from the very start. This same 
John records the words of Jesus : " And ye also shall bear 
witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." 
That is, the beginning of the new creation. This is proof posi- 
tive of the truth of the exegesis here given — unless both Jesus 
4 



26 



Retrospection. 



and His apostles all pre-existed with God, which none are simple 
enough to affirm. But let us look at it as explained and held by 
the blind guides of this world. In the beginning was God, and God 
was with God, and God was God, and God became flesh ; and God 
says " all flesh is as grass." Then God became as grass ; and what 
is grass \ I hope my friends will take a common-sense view of the 
subject and not allow themselves to be led away from the truth, 
" which alone can make you free." I know how difficult it will be to 
yield long-cherished opinions, even when their falsity and absurd- 
ity are shown ; and more especially will it be hard for learned 
divines to acknowledge light from a quarter so obscure, and es- 
teemed so ignorant, as we are ; but error has nearly had its day, 
and it is a happy thought that truth will finally triumph. Sec- 
ondly : " He (Jesus Christ) was the true light that lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world 
and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not." 
John i, 10. Notwithstanding Jesus was u the true light," it- 
must be evident to even the most superficial mind that this true 
light did not, does not enlighten every man that cometh into the 
old, or natural world. This being the case, which none will dis- 
pute, it follows that some other world was meant. It must have 
been the new world which he made, whose inhabitants were en- 
lightened by this " true light." This relieves the text from mys- 
tery, and every feature of pre-existence is removed. It is ad- 
mitted that the new world was made by Him, but not the old ; 
and although those who came into the new world were enlight- 
ened by Him, yet it is evident they knew Him not — that is, they 
did not fully comprehend His mission and His doctrine — for He 
said : " Have I been so long with you, Peter, and you have not 
known me ? " Thirdly : " God, in these last days, hath spoke 
unto us by his Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things : 
by whom also He made the (new) worlds." Heb. i, 2. Fourthly ; 
Christ Jesus " who is the image of the invisible God, the first- 
born of every creature. For by Him are all things created that 
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether 
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers ; all 
things were created by Him and for Him ; and He is before all 
things, and by Him all things consist, and He (Jesus Christ) is the 
head of the body, the church ; who is the beginning (of the new 
creation and church), the first born from the dead." Col. xv, 16, 
IT, 18. I quote these texts entire, because they are supposed by 



Head of the Ciiukcii. 



27 



divines to be proof positive not only of the pre-existence of 
Christ, bnt that Christ was God Himself ; but, when fairly con- 
sidered, they fail to do either. They fail in the former, because 
reference is had to the new, not the old world ; and fail in the 
latter because Christ, the head of the church, was the image of an- 
other. It would hardly do to say He was the image of himself ! 
It is true that " by Him were all things created that are in the 
(new) heavens, and that are in the (new) earth ; and all things 
therein were created by Him and for Him." But this could not 
be truly said of Him in relation to the old heavens and earth that 
were to pass away, which existed before Christ, who is called the 
second Adam, nor of the visible universe, which existed before 
the first Adam was created. And he (Christ), the text says, is 
before all things (in excellence), which is true. Should we give 
the text any other construction it would clash with what the good 
apostle elsewhere affirms of the Son of God. He says : " Concern- 
ing His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed 
of David according to the flesh (and that is the way we were all 
made), and declared to be the Son of God with power, according 
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Rom. 
i, 3,4. 

According to the general construction given by the sectarian 
world to the first quoted text, one would be led to conclude that 
the apostle was not speaking of the same Son of God in the 
latter text, and, with their exegesis, reconciliation and agreement 
between them are impossible. But to proceed with Collosians, 
the 18th verse. It will be evident that the first-born of the new 
creation is meant. He was called the first-born of the whole 
creation, because He was the " first-begotten from the dead ; " 
consequently the " first-born of every creature " from the dead. 
The text does not say He was before all things ; but He is before — 
stands before, or is foremost, in the new creation ; and " by Him 
all things (appertaining thereto) consist." This is no forced con- 
struction, and leaves the apostle in harmony with himself and in 
harmony with truth, and divests the reading of all obscurity and 
mystery. " He that hath ears to hear let him hear ; " for in all 
I say, I hope to be so plain that the most common capacity can 
understand and comprehend me. We claim to be denizens of 
this new world made by Christ — " the new heavens and new 
earth which He created, wherein dwelleth righteousness," where 
all " old things pass away, and all things become new, and all 



28 



Retrospection. 



things of God." This is the place and this is the feast to which 
we all are invited. Who would not have " old things pass 
away " " and all things become new ? " Who is there that would 
not this day, before God, give ail his worldly possessions to have 
his past sins, in the acts of his life, wiped out, and be restored to 
the innocence of a child? I hear a response from the deep 
chambers of the heart, saying : " I would, I would." Then let 
me assure all, even the chiefest of sinners, that a compliance with 
God's requirement in His Order will bring to you this happy 
result. 

" O ye Corinthians, our month is open unto you, our heart is 
enlarged. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous- 
ness? What communion hath light with darkness? What con- 
cord hath Christ with Belial ? What agreement hath the temple 
of God with idols ? For ye are the temple of the living God ; 
as God hath said : I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I 
will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore 
come yet out from among them ; be ye separate and touch not 
the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a Father 
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty." 



TRUE HAPPINESS. 



Before people will forsake the world and come to Christ, they 
will have to feel a strong assurance that by so doing they will be 
rendered more happy here and hereafter. Happiness is of three 
kinds, viz. : celestial or spiritual ; intellectual ; and sensual, or 
animal ; and the latter is unworthy the name, yet the multitude 
seek it and are thereby ruined. " He only can be esteemed really 
happy who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God;" and 
this can only be attained through Jesus Christ, by obeying His 
teaching, and walking as He walked. The second is attainable by 
the good and the bad, according to their capacity and application. 
The third is enjoyed by animals, and by animal, sensual man. 
" Every gratification," says Dr. Beattie, " of which human nature 
is capable, may be comprehended under the one or the other of 
these three classes, viz. : The pleasures of the outward sense, the 
pleasures of imagination and intellect, and the pleasures that 
result from the right exercise of our moral powers. The delights 
that arise from the latter source, and from the approbation of 
conscience, are, of all gratification, the most dignified. The 
more a man attaches himself to them the more respectable he 
becomes ; and it is not possible for him to carry such attachment 
to excess. With disgust or with pain, they are never attended. 

* * To virtue, therefore, which is the right exercise of our 
moral powers, the character of chief good does belong, which 
will appear still more evident, when we consider that the hope 
of future felicity is the chief consolation of the present life, and 
that the virtuous alone can reasonably entertain that hope. As, 
on the other hand, vice, in the most prosperous condition, is sub- 
ject to the pangs of a guilty conscience and to the dreadful 
anticipation of future punishment, which are sufficient to destroy 
all earthly happiness." 

This corroborates what I have said, and, coming, as it does, 
from one of your own number and class, can be the more readily 
and easily received ; but I shall endeavor to make it still more 



30 



True Happiness. 



evident. I love to collate, compare and draw evidence for truth 
from any quarter. " The prudent man foreseeth the evil and 
hideth himself, but the simple go on and are punished." 

Every reflecting mind will admit that the combination of the 
spiritual and intellectual forms the only happiness worthy the 
name, which I call true happiness. This being in the possession 
of any soul, he may be said to have obtained " the pearl of great 
price." But none ever reached this goal till Jesus Christ came, 
and, by the sacrifice and crucifixion of all the sensual and merely 
animal appetites, obtained and then declared the truth to 
the world : " This is the way, walk ye in it." Since then, 
philosophers and pious men, on the natural plane of life, could 
only approximate the truth, we should learn of those, if such can 
be found, " who have purified their souls in obeying the truth 
through the spirit," — (1 Pet. i, 22) — by obedience to Him who 
first found the whole truth and brought " life and immortality to 
light." For, " if any of you err from the truth, and any one 
convert him — he who converteth the sinner from the error of 
his way shall save a soul from death." James v, 20. Then, in 
accordance with the testimony and life of the Saviour, I affirm 
this great truth, which was hidden from the world till Christ, 
viz. : that all the miseries that are in the world, and afflict the 
human family, or ever will afflict them, are, and will be the con- 
sequence of the indulgence of the lower passional nature of man. 
On the other hand, all true happiness that was ever gained by any 
soul, was the consequence of self-abnegnation, that is the denial 
of the selfish, sensual, and lower propensities ; that is to say, in 
brief, self-denial bringeth happiness — self-indulgence bringeth 
misery. None can gainsay this truth. It comes to the home 
experience of every man. Take any twenty-four hours of your 
life, and before God and your own conscience compare notes, and 
see if I am not sustained in . this declaration. Then write it in 
your minute-books and in your albums, and above all, write it in 
your hearts ; and if you practice it in your daily conduct through 
life, "your soul shall be saved from death." All men — great 
and good men — anterior and subsequent to the advent of Christ, 
who are living on the Adamic or natural plane, have believed, and 
still believe, that a moderate indulgence of the selfish and sensual 
appetites was compatible with the celestial or higher, Christ life, 
and the best of them think some such gratification cannot be 
avoided. Hear Plato: "The nature of mankind is greatly degen- 



Plato and Locke. 



31 



erated and depraved. All manner of disorders infest human 
nature, and men, being impotent, are torn in pieces by their 
lusts as by so many wild horses." So it was ; man was impotent. 
Until Christ, there was none to set the example or lead the way; 
but He comes with a light eclipsing all former lights ; with this 
great truth inscribed on His unfurled banner, floating before the 
eyes of the world : Self-indulgence bringeth misery • self-denial 
bringeth happiness. He does not admit of even a moderate 
indulgence of the selfish and sensual, but gives His w T hole soul 
and body to God, and then says to the world, " follow me." 
Christ does not admit impotence in his true followers, and Paul 
says he " can do all things (necessary to salvation) through Christ 
strengthening him." And how does Christ strengthen His fol- 
lowers ? He strengthens them by His teaching, but more by His 
example. Although Locke admits the impotency of man, he tells 
us some good things: "If any extreme disturbance (as sometimes 
it happens) possesses our whole mind — as when the pain of the 
rack, love, anger, or any other violent passion running away with 
us, allows us not the liberty of thought — God, who knows our 
frailty, pities our weakness, and requires of us no more than we 
are able to do, and will judge us as a kind and merciful father. 
But the forbearance of a too hasty compliance with our desires, 
the moderation and restraint of our passions, so that our under- 
standing may be free to examine, and reason, unbiased, gives its 
judgment, being that wiiereon a right direction of our conduct to 
true happiness depends — it is in this we should employ our chief 
care and endeavors. In this we should take pains to suit the 
relish of our minds to the true, intrinsic good or ill that is in 
things. How much this is in every one's power, by making 
resolutions to himself, such as he may keep, is easy for every one 
to try. JN"or let any one say he cannot govern his passions / nor 
hinder them from breaking out and carrying him into action • 
for what he can do before a prince or a great man he can do 
alone, or in the presence of God, if he willP This is certainly 
commendable advice and sound reasoning, but I am of the 
opinion that none w T ill be able to fully keep themselves without 
the facilities afforded in God's Zion, or the order He has estab- 
lished on earth for the protection and redemption of man. We 
must put on the "whole armor of God," and follow Christ in 
the regeneration. " If thou will be perfect, go sell that thou 
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; 



32 



True Happiness. 



and come and take np the cross and follow me." Mark x, 21. 
But some complain of the tempter : " Watch and pray, lest you 
enter into temptation." The vigilance which saves from the 
tempter for one hour will save for two, and the vigilance that 
saved for two hours will save for a week, and that which saved 
for a week, if continued, will save throughout life. But of him 
that yieldeth, it is written : " Pie goeth straightway as an ox goeth 
to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till a 
dart strike through his liver ; as a bird hasteneth to the snare and 
knoweth not it is for his life. Hearken unto me now, therefore, 
O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth : Her house 
is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." 
Prov. vii, 22, 23, 27. But let no man say another tempts him, 
for the motor is within ; the tempter is there, and the power of 
resistance is there. " Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am 
tempted of God. But every man is tempted when he is drawn 
away of his own lust and enticed (not the lust of somebody else, 
but his own). Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth 
forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." 
James i, 13. This is the consequence. Now, then, the life of 
Jesus Christ — what was it ? A life of self-denial or of indul- 
gence ? Was His life a worldly life or something else ? 

Let me ask you, who profess to be Christians, was the Christ 
life a higher life than any of you now live, or was it lower ? Or 
was it the same ? One thing is very certain — His life, which He 
commends us to copy, was either a higher life than yours, or it 
was lower, or it was the same. Can any one lay his hand upon 
his heart and say his life was the same as that of the professing 
world? If not, all are bound to acknowledge that His is the 
higher life, which we are bound to copy, or not call ourselves 
Christians. When Christ came, he found the natural order in as 
much perfection, the marriage relation as sacred and as much 
respected as it is to-day, and all the old heaven system, with its 
pillars and corner-stones as erect and perfect as now. Did He 
come to make no change ? Was He satisfied with the old ? or 
did He set about the creation of new heavens and earth ? If so, 
how comes it that His professed followers are satisfied with, and 
to be in, the old heavens, on the lower floor, and this in a very 
dilapidated condition ? How is this ? Did He only come to get 
up the most fallacious story, and then say to the world : " Only 
believe this story, and you can remain in the old heavens, and 



Sowing to the Flesh. 



33 



live the life of generation, copying the . old life of Adam and 
Eve, and I will receive yon, and yon shall be my children ? " 
How is this? Does this appear reasonable? Let ns not be 
longer deceived, " for God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man 
soweth that shall he also reap. If we sow to the flesh, we shall 
of the flesh reap corruption ; but if we sow to the spirit, we shall 
of the spirit reap life everlasting." Gal. vi, 8. What do any 
suppose is meant by " sowing to the flesh? " " Let us have clear 
ideas, and understand each other. What did old Adam do ? 
Did he sow to the flesh or sow to the spirit ? Whatsoever is born 
of the flesh is flesh, and whatsoever is born of the spirit is 
spirit." You will doubtless acknowledge that Adam, Noah, and 
the Patriarchs, and all the pillars of the old heaven sowed to the 
flesh, and so they all did till the coming of the " Son of Man," 
and so do the professors of to-day — they all go on sowing to the 
flesh, and the promise of God is sure to them, and that is, " they 
shall reap corruption." What difference do any suppose God will 
make between a professed minister of the gospel and his slave, 
when both of them are sowing to the flesh? Will he give cor- 
ruption to the slave and life everlasting to the minister ? By no 
means. God is just, and no respecter of persons; and where the 
works and motives are the same, the reward, rest assured, will be 
the same. 

Again, how cruelly mistaken, and what an egregious blunder 
the Son of God made, if He came to " create new heavens and 
earth wherein righteousness should dwell," if the old would still 
answer the purpose of salvation, wherein all manner of '^right- 
eousness, and hardly any thing else, exists ! Christ was not the 
supreme, but the Son of God — a godly man — who was " tempted 
in all points (not some points) as we are." But what did He do ? 
Why He denied himself to all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, 
even in its most retined and modified forms, and required the 
same of all His followers. Then I put to all the pertinent ques- 
tion : Is not the man, who, for purity's sake, likewise denies him- 
self as did Jesus, nearer like the pattern than any one who does 
not thus deny himself ? The honest answer must be that he is. 
Hence, after denying himself, Christ says : " If any man (black, 
white, bond or free), will come after me, let him deny himself 
(not gratify himself), and take up the cross and follow me ;" not 
follow somebody else, neither John the Baptist, Moses, nor some 
5 



34 



True Happiness. 



of the patriarchs, but follow me. But how do the people act ? 
They act as if Christ had said : "If any man will come after me, 
let him gratify himself." People by their actions imply all this 
and more. But the apostle says : " They that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." " And if we 
live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit." Gal. 5 : 24. If Paul 
had only said : " They that are Christ's have gratified the flesh 
with the affections and lusts," I would at once bow to the pro- 
fessors of Christianity, black and white, " blue spirits and gray;" 
for nothing more true could be said of them. But it so happens 
that the terms crucified and gratified are not synonyms. And I 
would ask where is the professor of Christianity among all the 
worldly sects — I mean outside of this fold — who can, with this 
single test of Paul's before him, stand up, with his hand on his 
heart, and his eyes turned toward heaven, and say : " I am a 
Christian ? " I venture the assertion that not one can be found. 
And why \ Because they all go on gratifying the flesh instead 
of crucifying it. They also live in the flesh and walk in the 
flesh ; all in direct opposition to the test here given by Paul. 
This is a sweeping charge, and oh ! that it were only false ! In 
heaven's- name, and the name of Christianity, I fervently wish it 
were. There is but one right way, and I cannot say any are right 
when the good fruits are not manifest. 

I have endeavored to convince all that by coming into the " new 
world " — by taking up the cross and leading the Christian life of 
self-denial — all would thereby be rendered more happy here and 
hereafter, than by remaining in the " old heavens " and continu- 
ing in the worldly life. If this is not true, the Son of God failed 
in His mission, and came into the world in vain. All will admit, 
however, that moments of pleasure attend you : 

" There is, I grant, a triumph, of the pulse, 
A dance of spirits, a mere froth of joy, 
That mantles high, that sparkles and expires, 
Leaving the soul more vapid than before." 

But if there are still those who contend that true and perfect 
happiness is to be found in the outer world, let them produce 
their evidence. Statistics have shown that in at least one locality, 
out of about one hundred thousand families, only thirteen were 
considered perfectly happy ! But the condition of even the best 



Tkue Happiness. 



35 



of these, the confessional might disclose the part of Popes Placebo 
and Justin : 

" In spite of all his praises must declare, 
All he can find is bondage, cost and care ; 
Heaven knows, I shed full many a private tear, 
And sigh in silence, lest the world might hear!" 

If this, then, is the case with those considered most happy, 
what must be that of the most miserable ? 

And what the condition of the libertine, whose sole enjoy- 
ment is — 



— A transient gust, 

Spent in a sudden storm of lust — 
A vapor fed from wild desire — 
A wandering, self-consuming fire? 



THE CAUSE OF TRUE HAPPINESS. 



It would be a heinous crime in any person to use his endeavors 
to render any human being unhappy; but the surgeon who 
amputates a limb, although he produces momentary suffering, 
does a benevolent act, as the pain thus inflicted is for the salva- 
tion of the body. So it is with individuals, who many times 
inflict on themselves temporary pain for the sake of future 
comfort. 

There is scarcely any thought within the mind that does not 
either produce happiness or misery, and this happiness or misery 
depends mainly on our previous action. If we have governed 
the passions, and acted honorably, our reflections produce happi- 
ness ; if we have not, we have misery. 

" The infinitely wise author of our being has given us power 
over the several parts of our bodies, to move them or to keep 
them at rest, as we see fit ; and the same over our minds, to 
choose among its ideas which it will think on." " And He will 
show us the path of life ; in whose presence is fullness of joy, 
and at whose right hand are pleasures evermore." Psa. xvi, 11. 
Then, " let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts." Here is 
where self-denial should begin. If the thoughts are directed 
aright, right actions will follow as a consequence, and happiness 
be the result. Of this I feel certain, that any one who will avail 
himself or herself of the facilities afforded by the gospel of 
Christ, even though he or she may have been weakened by mal- 
practice, can, by the choice of his or her mind, in preferring sub- 
jects to think on, or actions to perform, or motion or rest for any 
part of the body, cause the existence or non-existence of such 
action or motion, " they shall have power to become the Sons and 
daughters of God." Hence, says Christ : " If thine eye offend 
thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable that 
one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole 
body should be cast into hell ; and if thy right hand offend thee, 
cut it off, and cast it from thee," etc. Matt, v, 29. Christ 
would not have thus instructed us, unless we had the power to do. 
What I would show in this connection, is that, notwithstanding 



Self-denial. 



37 



I have said that we could secure greater happiness here and here- 
after by entering Christ's fold, and practicing the work of self- 
denial, than by following the course of this world, yet I would 
deceive none. ' If any suppose he can pluck out and cut off the 
members, which are dear to him, without suffering pain, he is 
laboring under a delusion. What I would have all understand 
from these words of Christ is, that in order to secure true happi- 
ness, a painful operation must first be endured. The adulterous 
eye must be plucked out, and the hand that worketh iniquity 
must be amputated, and each must do it for himself ; but he can- 
not do it to any good purpose until they offend his higher 
impulses and aspirations. "Whenever we become so far enlight- 
ened by the truth as to discover that those organs are obstructions 
to our spiritual progress, we will then be prepared for the opera- 
tion, and not before. Think not that this can be effected without 
tribulation. "And one of the elders said unto me, what are 
these arrayed in white robes, and whence come they? " " These 
are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed 
their robes and made them white in the blood (life) of the 
Lamb. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 
feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters ; 
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Rev. vi, 13, 
14, 17. Thus, we may perceive, that, after amputation, the 
washing, cleansing, and healing processes are to be endured, and, 
without faithful endurance in self-denial, the true happiness 
sought for is unattainable. But I would not, on the other hand, 
have any one to be the least discouraged on account of anticipated 
tribulation ; but whenever any of the works of the flesh become 
offensive, then is the call of God to commence the plucking, ampu- 
tating and cleansing to be healed ; and, if we are faithful, God 
will give the necessary power of execution and endurance. When 
this period arrives, we should not stop to consult first, second nor 
third cousins, nor nearer relatives about it ; but like Paul, 
come right up to the good work, and stop not to " confer with 
flesh and blood ; " and when once we have put our hand to the 
gospel plough, look not back, lest we " fall away," when our mis- 
ery will be augmented in proportion to the light, gifts and 
blessing of God we have abused. 

46 Ere such a soul regains its peaceful state, 
How often must it love, how often hate — 
How often hope, despair, resent, regret, 
Conceal, disdain, do all things but forget." 



38 



Mission of Truth. 



None will now say that I have tried to deceive them. But it 
cannot be portrayed so plainly, but what it will " come as a snare 
on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." Luke, 
xxi, 35. u Think not," says Christ, " I am come to send peace 
on earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am 
come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter 
against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother- 
in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. And 
he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy 
of me." Matt, x, 3i, 38. The whole nature of the mission of 
Christ may be herein discovered : The call is from the rudimen- 
tal to a higher state of existence. Every one who has taken time 
to reflect will agree that the generative is the rudimental condi- 
tion of man ; promiscuity, the first and lowest ; marriage and 
orderly generation, the second and best condition of the rudi- 
mental state, which still leaves man on the same plane with the 
orderly part of the animal creation. To progress at all from the 
animal, is to rise with Christ to the celestial, for we " cannot 
serve two masters ' ' — the flesh and the spirit — nor live on the ani- 
mal and celestial plane at the same time. If we attain to the 
latter, the former must be rejected. " Choose then this day 
whom you will serve : if the Lord be God follow him ; if Baal, 
then follow him. For know ye not that to whom ye yield your- 
selves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, 
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. " 
Bom. vi, 16. 

It is very clear, then, that all who choose the rudimental life 

must remain on a level with the animal part of God's creation — 

on the plane of self-love. The very quintessence of this state is 

a contracted selfishness. The love of God, which is universal, 

cannot reign in the soul ; for any contracted love is not the love 

of God. It is in the very nature and fitness of things, in the 

highest rudimental condition, that their loves be partial, animal, 

selfish ; it is, and must be so with man and beast, with fish and 

fowl ; and cannot be otherwise. Men may be willing for, and 

even wish others to be blest — still it is self first ; and the very 

best prayer that any such can offer from the heart is : 

" Yet, O Lord, bless me and mine, 
With graces temporal and divine, 
That I for gear and grace may shine, 

Excelled — by none ; 
And all the glory shall be thine — 
Amen, Amen! " 



Loye Your Enemies. 



39 



Men may and do repeat verbal orisons of higher import, but 
sounds are nothing when the acts of their lives are at variance 
with them. Their loves being partial, their happiness is partial ; 
their desires contracted, their happiness is contracted ; being con- 
tracted, it has its beginning ; having its beginning, it has its 
ending. The quaint Thackeray, thus well describes it : " Who 
does not know of eyes lighted by love once, where the flame 
shines no more ? Of lamps extinguished, once properly trimmed 
and tended ? Every man has such in his house ; such mementoes 
make our most splendid chambers look sad ; such faces in a day 
cast a gloom on our sunshine. To oaths, mutually sworn, and 
invocations of heaven, and priestly ceremonies, and fond belief, 
and love so fond and faithful that it never doubted that it should 
live forever, are all of no avail toward making it eternal. It dies 
in spite of the banns of the priest. It has its course like all mor- 
tal things — its beginning, its progress, and decay. It buds and 
blooms into sunshine, and it withers and dies." The love of God 
alone is eternal. 

The Saviour's command is : " Love your enemies. If you 
love them that love you, what reward have ye ? Do not publi- 
cans the same ? If ye salute the brethren only, what do ye more 
than others ? " Matt, v, 46. This is the love of God that you 
keep his commandments. 1 John, v, 3. Hence Ave see the love 
of God is universal, and must extend not only to neutrals, but to 
enemies. How many of us can say we are in possession of God's 
love ? One thing is certain : His love is either contracted and 
partial or it is not ; and if any partial love can be God's love, it 
only then remains for us to know how much it may be contracted 
and still continue to be God's love in the soul. Can it be con- 
tracted to one nation ? or one tongue ? or one color ? or one pro- 
fession ? If so, why not to one family, or to one person, or even 
to one's self ? Can any one of these be God's love ? By no 
means. It follows, then, that any one thus circumscribed ha& not 
God's love in the soul. Oh ! how weak short-sighted mortals 
sometimes are ! What folly, what miserable folly it is in any 
one to base his happiness on such a fleeting shadow. Of its dis- 
astrous consequences, evidence is nowhere wanting. Such ones 
generally expect the loved one to afford them much pleasure ; but 
failing in this expectation, their love oozes out in proportion to 
their disappointment. It wanes, withers, fades, and dies. The 
loss of the realization of their fond hopes, either before or after 



40 



Mission of Truth. 



trial, not unfrequently destroys the functions of the body, and 
occasions pining, melancholy, insanity and death. Of one such, 
who took to the Dismal Swamp, in Yirginia, the poet Moore 
sang : 

" He built him a boat of the birchen bark, 
Which carried him off from the shore — 
Far, far he followed the meteor spark — 
The winds were high and the clouds were dark ; 
But the boat returned no more ! " 

'Not so with God's love. In this, there are no mistakes, no 
blunders ; it brings no disappointments ; it brings no tears, no 
sorrow, no pining, no repining, no melancholy, no insanity, no 
death ; but is like a " well of water springing up to everlasting 
life." In the picture given by Thackeray, we see the condition of 
rudimental man, with his perishing hopes, loves and joys. But it 
is said "truth is stranger than fiction;" and certainly it is passing 
strange that enlightened, human beings, who know the truth of 
these statements, and with the life and teachings of the Saviour 
before them, still continue to " chase a phantom through the fire, 
o'er bog and brake, and precipice, till death, all for contaminating 
trash or one thrill of sensual delight ! even at the expense of their 
union with God, their hope of heaven ; they stoop down and 
worship mere nlthiness! And thus are they goaded through 
every slough, from the cradle to the grave ! " forging their own 
manacles, and loading themselves down with fetters and ponder- 
ous chains, coil after coil, each more difficult to sunder than the 
first ; locking their own prison doors, and darkening the windows, 
that no light may possibly reach them, to expose them even to 
themselves ! 

" Oh ! where the slave so lowly, 
Condemned to chains unholy, 

Who, could he burst 

His bands at first, 
Would pine beneath them slowly? " 

But it is one of the easiest things in the world for men to find 
reasons for what they desire. I venture the assertion that there 
never was a soul that experienced hell, but could furnish you a 
reason how he came to get there, just as though he ought not to 
suffer because he could furnish a reasonable excuse for doing the 
acts that brought him there ! Thus people go the road to ruin, 



Equal Rights. 



41 



pleading excuse to themselves all the way, and flattering God 
with his goodness and mercy, but forgetting that he is just. The 
dram-drinker pleads the stomach's necessities ; the tobacco-chewer, 
the inactivity of the salival glands ; the gambler, " if we're agreed 
whose business is it ? " the publisher of light literature, the demands 
of the public ; the lawyer must defend his client, innocent or 
guilty; the doctor had better take money for a dough pill than 
for one that would injure the patient ; the merchant and broker 
must accommodate the public; the harlot pleases the demands of 
libertines as a means of subsistence ; the libertines plead the har- 
lot's necessities and the demands of their God-given natures (?), 
and the orderly generative man cannot follow Christ because he 
has the higher (!) duty to perform of peopling the world, that 
God may have more souls to worship Him. This latter I propose 
to examine, as it carries on its face a degree of plausibility which 
entitles it to some consideration — all the rest sufficiently exposing 
themselves. 

First, Are these generating men sincere, who at the same time 
acknowledge it more than probable that nine-tenths of the souls 
thus propagated will be candidates for. and denizens of the lower 
regions? Thus nine-tenths of their work is for the devil, and 
only one-tenth for God — nine-tenths for misery, one-tenth for 
happiness — nine-tenths for hell and one-tenth for heaven. While 
this is the belief, and facts appear to demonstrate its truth, the 
excuse for propagation seems utterly void of justifiable or reason- 
able foundation, and only exposes the hypocrisy of him who 
urges it. 

Secondly, the argument further runs : Whether one or all of 
my offspring get to heaven or hell is a matter between them and 
their God. But it is right for all men to do right ; a right can- 
not be wrong ; and what is right for one man is right for all men ; 
and what is right for all men is wrong to be neglected by any 
man ; for to neglect a right thing is a sin of omission. It is fur- 
ther urged, if we are not to be saved until we cease propagation, 
then all ought to cease ; for certainly all ought to be saved. If 
this cessation is necessary to salvation, it is then right for it to 
cease. Hence it follows if all do right the earth will inevitably 
become a howling wilderness in less than two hundred years, and 
thus God would be made to defeat His own purposes. 

I will examine the sincerity of these generating saints. They 
assert that it is right for men to propagate, and according to their 
6 



42 



Mission of Truth. 



mode of reasoning it is right for all men, and being right for all 
men, it is wrong, and consequently a sin, for any one to omit or 
neglect this right thing. This would make Jesus Christ and 
Paul, and in fact all of Christ's immediate followers and the apos- 
tolic church at Jerusalem sinners ! Again, these sophistical rea- 
soners say it is right to fight, and go themselves as chaplains for 
the army, urging mad men on to carnage, blood and slaughter, 

' ' Who, foe to nature, hears the general groan, 
Murders their species, and betrays his own." 

Then, according to their logic, it is right to kill men, and if it 
is right for one, it is right for all, and being right for all, it is 
wrong in any to omit it ; and what would be the consequence ? 
The world would be depopulated in less than one decade, instead 
of two hundred years. Thus do those sophists outreason them- 
selves. But candor compels me to admit the reasoning to be 
good from the premises assumed ; and were the postulate true, it 
could not be faulty ; but, unluckily for them, their postulate is 
false ; for, what is right for one man is not right for all men. 
There is only one thing in my knowledge which is right for all 
men ; and that is : It is right for all men to think, speak, and 
act in conformity with the highest light God has vouchsafed to 
them — the highest they are capacitated to receive. In so doing 
they obey God, and to obey God is to do right. This I think 
cannot successfully be resisted. It is either right for a man to 
do what he conscientiously believes to be right, or else he must 
do the contrary — what he believes to be wrong. If it is right 
for a man to do what he believes to be wrong, then I grant the 
whole world is doing right ; for the number is small, indeed, who 
do not do what they think is wrong under the shining sun of 
every day. 

But I am pressed further, and told that a principle is wrong in 
the abstract, which, if carried out, would militate against the 
plans of the Creator. I beg leave to say that abstract evil is only 
a creature of the imagination ; instead of wrong existing ab- 
stractly, it exists concretely, nowhere only in persons. We 
make ideal abstractions of goodness, whiteness, blackness, etc., 
when such abstractions have no existence only in our minds ; for 
goodness can have no existence only as it inheres in some being 
or substance capable of being, or doing good, and just so of all 
other abstractions. But the same argument comes against the 



Material Destruction. 



43 



principle of propagation that does against non-propagation. The 
earth, we know, is of a given size — just so many roods and 
perches. The best calculation makes it to contain thirty-two 
billions of acres. It is ascertained that there are now about 
eleven hundred millions souls on the earth's surface, and this 
population doubles itself in less than sixty years, with all the 
deaths by disease, wars, famines and celibates that have ever 
existed. According to this, five hundred years will see the end 
of the world if propagation goes on at the former rates of in- 
crease ! The professing evangelical churches believe that at some 
time God will burn up the earth — men, women, children, beasts, 
fish and fowl. This grand conflagration must take place inside 
of five hundred years, else people will die of starvation, if propa- 
gation goes on as formerly. But professors who depend so very 
much on God's mercy, seem not to be alarmed, neither at the 
shortness of the time nor at the inhumanity of the act ; but pro- 
fess to believe that God, with a lucifer match, will touch off this 
earthly ball when they have propagated and filled it with human 
beings to its utmost capacity ; and that this awful day may soon 
come is the prayer of all Christendom ; and when the trump 
sounds, they suppose that a select few will mount the skies in 
the upper air, the majority left to be consumed in the fire — these 
to groan, those to rejoice. And all this because the chosen few 
stuck to their faith without wavering ; not that their lives had 
been better than others, but because they never ceased to believe 
they should see 

" The wide earth to heaps of ashes turned 
When heaven itself the wandering chariot burned." 

This has been the theme and the song of the poet and the 
orator, and the fervent prayer of the sinning Christian for the 
past thousand years and more. Oh how devoutly is it prayed for 
by those who consider themselves the select few ; who on that 
auspicious day will rise in their ascension robes ! Holy families ! 
Men and their wives and their children shall ascend up out of 
harm's way : — 

" Far in the bright recesses of the skies, 
High o'er the rolling heavens, a mansion lies," 

there to wait and shout themselves hoarse, until God, for their 
special convenience, shall have created a new earth out of the 



Mission of Truth. 



ashes of the old one, when they will descend and take " peaceable 
possession," and then propagate a new race, which, of course, will 
not fall again as old Adam did, for all the Adams and Eves of 
this country will be holy ! 

Although Pope, in the lines quoted, might seem to favor the 
general belief, yet he forcibly corrects it : 

4 ' O Sons of earth ! attempt ye still to rise, 
By mountain piled on mountains to the skies ? 
Heaven still with laughter the vain toil surveys, 
And buries madmen in the heaps they raise." 

But Dr. Young, the pious believer, most sublimely portrays 
the (anti) Christian idea : 

u * * * At the destined hour, 
By the loud trumpet summoned to the charge ; 
See all the formidable sons of fire — 
Eruptions, earthquakes, comets, and lightnings play 
Their various engines; all at once disgorge 
Their blazing magazines, and take by storm 
This poor citadel of man . * * * 
* Hell bursting f ortli her blazing seas 
And storms sulphurous ; her voracious jaws 
Expanding wide, and roaring for her prey ; 
Above, around, beneath, amazement all! 
Terror and glory joined in their extremes ; 
Our God in grandeur, and our world on fire ! " 

But the professing world are mistaken in this, as they seem to 
be in most other things. They are, first, mistaken in Deity ; 
secondly, in Christ ; thirdly, in the Judgment ; fourthly, in the 
world that God has promised to burn up ; fifthly, in the qualities 
requisite to constitute a true Christian ; and sixthly, in God's plan 
for the redemption and salvation of man. 

I do not doubt the honesty and sincerity of the professing 
world in the matter here set forth ; but their ideas are as simple, 
ill-founded, and not more sublime than those of the little girl, 
who, being asked by her mother what the stars were, replied : 
" They were holes God made in the sky to let the glory down." 

It is very evident to me that God's plan for burning up the 
world is quite different from that entertained by the nominal 
professors of Christianity. His plan is wise, just, merciful, and 
good. Theirs, contracted, partial, selfish, diabolical, and unjust ; 
doing the utmost violence to all the attributes they ascribe to 
Him. The " arch-fiend " himself whom they suppose presides 
over the "infernal regions," could invent nothing more at war 



Final Consummation. 



45 



with the attributes of God than this plan for the consummation 
of all tilings. To till the earth to its utmost capacity, then on a 
given day burn it up with literal fire — men, women, boys, girls, 
babies, born and unborn ; and then give his " infernal majesty 
nine-tenths of the proceeds." Not so, friends. The wisdom of 
God is displayed in this ; that, while He burns up the world, He 
checks propagation — elevates and happifies the man by calling 
him out from, and above, the rudiments of a sinful world. 

At the risk of being thought tedious, I will notice the princi- 
pal text of scripture relied on to sustain the old heaven theory : 
" But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in 
which the (old) heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and 
the elements (of the old or Adamic world) shall melt with fer- 
vent heat ; the earth also (the old earth and earthly works of the 
earthly man in contradistinction to the spiritual) and the works 
(carnal) that are therein shall be burned up " (by the fire of the 
gospel of Christ). " Seeing, then, that these (old, earthly, carnal) 
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be 
in all holy conversation and godliness (so as to be worthy occu- 
pants of the new earth and heavens in which ye now reside ? " 
II Pet. x, 11. 

The careful student need not have any, nor but little difficulty, 
if he will correctly apply the terms earth, world, and heaven, as 
well as fire and burning, etc. Reference being nearly always had 
to man and man's condition in the different dispensations, and 
rarely to our globe and the visible, literal heavens, as thought by 
many. I would cite a few texts: " They shall be burnt with 
hunger," etc. Deu. xxxii, 24. " A fire goeth before him. His 
lightning enlightened the world (the people of the world). The 
earth saw (earthly men) and trembled. The hills melted (high, 
exalted men) at the Lord's presence." Psalms hi, 4, 5. Then, 
says Paul : " That wicked world (or spirit of iniquity in man) 
shall be revealed, which the Lord shall consume with the spirit 
of his mouth (whose tongue is a devouring fire (Isaiah xxxi, 27), 
and shall destroy by the brightness of his coming (with a light 
eclipsing all other lights)." Thess. ii, 8. 

" Give ear, O heavens (people of the old heavens), and I will 
speak ; and hear, O earth (earthly man), the words of my mouth : 
My doctrine shall drop as the rain ; my spirit shall distil as the 
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers 
upon the grass." Deut. xxxii, 1, 2. 



ABSTRACT EVIL. 



A minister of note, and of much more erudition than I can 
claim for myself, insists upon the fact of abstract evil, saying — 
.first, a principle, which, if acted upon, would produce evil, is an 
evil principle, therefore evil in the abstract ; secondly, a being 
that is evil in and of himself, such as the devil, is abstract evil ; 
thirdly, the disposition in man to do evil is an evil disposition, 
and therefore is abstract evil ; fourthly, the fire that burns, and 
the floods and hurricanes that destroy are natural, abstract evils. 
I will examine these positions, and, if I find them true, it will be 
my pleasure to yield. In order to be clear, terms must be well 
defined. First, — " Principle in a general sense is the cause, source, 
or origin of any thing." Secondly, Evil — " having bad quali- 
ties — deviation from good by a moral agent." Thirdly, — In 
the abstract, "a state of separation," etc. First — If, upon ex- 
amination, it be found that the cause of evil is evil itself, or has 
bad qualities, we shall then have abstract evil. The numbers 6, 
8, etc., are of themselves abstract numbers, but when we say 6 
feet, 10 men, they become concrete. They are nothing more 
than an idea until linked with some substance. So it is with 
principles. 

When God had finished His works, including man, He not only 
pronounced them good, but very good ; so that we find the evil 
all the while resulting from the misapplication or wrong use of 
some good thing — so, evil is concrete / for instance, the prin- 
ciple of hunger in man causes him to eat to sustain life, but a 
wrong use of the faculties that satisfy hunger produces evil and 
death. It is just so with all the faculties and dispositions per- 
taining to our existence. When we see a man disposed to do 
wrong, we say he is yielding to the evil principle, when it is 
nothing more than a wrong use of a good faculty or principle. 
The same may be said of all natural evil — the wrong use of a 
good thing. It is therefore unphilosophical to suppose that good 
and evil exist abstractly. If we speak of whiteness or roundness, 



Cause and Effect. 



47 



the terms are abstract, but we must have reference to some sub- 
stance, either white or round, as white flour, round table, etc., 
which renders them concrete and not abstract. All the mental 
abstractions which we make of good and evil are but the dispo- 
sitions of the mind with regard to pleasure and pain. Whatever 
results in happiness we call good ; and whatever results in misery 
we call evil ; and although the ideas of good and evil are distinct 
and opposite, as much as pleasure and pain, yet nothing is more 
obvious than that these two sensations can be and constantly are 
produced by the same agent. How pleasant, good, and agreeable 
is fire in a cold day at a proper distance ; but if brought too near, 
what evil and pain it produces. How terrible the calamity when 
this good thing devours cities and multitudes of human beings, 
and destroys, as it does sometimes, the labors of a century in a 
day ! The same may be said of water, air, and other substances. 
As to his " Satanic Majesty" — if he is a ball of evil and nothing 
else, rolling through God's universe, throwing off his scintilla- 
tions wherever he can find a receptacle, I would be compelled to 
admit that there was such a thing as abstract evil ; but as this is 
not palpable and admits of a reasonable doubt, I feel obliged to 
maintain the position that evil is concrete. I shall, by and by, 
pay my devoir to the supposed important being called Devil, that 
has claimed so great a share of public notice for many years. But 
I am informed that, since I have agreed that God gave us all 
of our faculties, and that they are not only good, but very good, 
in their right use, where is the reason for singling out and con- 
demning the faculties of procreation ? Please do not forget, that 
while they are very good in their right use, they are very evil in 
their wrong use. And where is the man who is able to use the 
faculties of propagation and confine them to the right use 1 If 
there is none, then they become very evil instead of very good, 
and who will say it is right to persist in very evil 1 

I am further told that I affirm it to be right for a man to do 
what he conceives to be right, and in doing this he is obeying 
God, and in obeying God " he is accepted with Him ; " hence if a 
man believes it is right to propagate, he is justified and accepted 
in it. I still affirm the same ; and that no man does his whole 
duty short of obeying the highest light God has given him. He 
must obey the higher or lower light. The man who feels it a 
duty he owes to God to propagate, and will confine himself 
strictly within the bounds of God's law of nature, this man will 



48 



Abstract Evil. 



be an honor to the race and will be " accepted with God," but he 
will not be removed from the natural plane of being to the 
higher Christ plane, until he becomes further enlightened. He 
will still be on the lower floor. But if he continues honest, he 
will leave the earthly works of Adam and come to Christ. Xor 
can he be a full Christian and denizen of the new heavens until 
this last move is made. We must remember that people's con- 
sciences need to be enlightened as well as the understanding, and 
if this is not done, as it was to Paul, by an especial afflux from 
Christ himself, may it not be done, as Paul says, by our preach- 
ing ? Let me again impress it upon you that the very best con- 
dition of a man who lives on the natural, Adamic plane is beloio 
the Christ plane and below the condition and state of His fol- 
lowers. You are kindly invited, then, to come up stairs, away 
from the rudimental, and leave the less enlightened to propagate 
until they shall have become enlightened by " the true light that 
enlighteneth every one that cometh into the (new) world;" 

But if your unfoldment or spiritual development is not yet 
sufficient to enable you to see the necessity of this, then it is 
neither proper nor right for you to come. The best thing for you 
is to remain on the low floor and obey the Adamic gospel : Mul- 
tiply, replenish and subdue the earth — devoting earthly propen- 
sities to the uses of propagation and to nothing else. 

What would any of you think of the husbandman who, after 
sowing his field in wheat, would go on sowing the same field 
until harvest ? thus not only losing his wheat, but blasting every 
expectation of realizing a good crop. Would you not call him 
insane. Most certainly. Just as insane is the man who is con- 
tinually violating Grod's law of nature for the sake of pleasure ; 
deadening his conscience, injuring his health, shortening his 
natural life, and blasting every prospect for sound and healthy 
offspring ! Where is the man so stupidly blind as not to see the 
degeneracy of the race under such action ! Ye men of nature, 
let your consciences, and not your desire for pleasure, guide 
your action. 

Hear Dr. Beattie : " Conscience is the highest faculty in the 
human soul — the commanding, the authoritative portion of our 
nature — that which we are constituted to feel it our obligation, as 
well as interest, to obey. When we disobey its monitions we feel 
blame-worthy and are so. Since conscience prompts to virtue, it 
is a just inference that man was made for virtuous action ; and he 



Flesh and Spirit. 



49 



does not act according to the dictates of his nature as a whole 
when he gratifies his other faculties and propensities disapproved 
by the supreme faculty — that which the Creator evidently de- 
signed to control our actions. The conclusion is, that to allow no 
more to this part than to other parts of our nature — to let it 
guide and govern only occasionally, in common with the rest, as 
its turn happens to come — this is not to act conformably to the 
constitution of man. * * * How foolishly those men argue 
who give way to all their passions without reserve, and excuse 
themselves by saying that every passion is natural, and that they 
cannot be blamed for doing what nature prompts them to do. It 
is only a part, and that confessedly inferior part of their nature 
that prompts them to such indulgence. Their nature as a whole 
remonstrates against such indulgence. It is, therefore, unnatural 
in the proper sense of that word, and, therefore, to be condemned 
and abandoned." Dr. Beattie was doubtless a good, natural 
man, on the natural plane, and it would be well for the world 
were there more such. He was under the law, and, perhaps, 
obedient to the law, and as such an honor to mankind ; but sal- 
vation is not to be had under the law. " For what the law could 
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His 
own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the 
flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, 
who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For they that 
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh." And where 
is the man of the world, married or single, who is not after the 
flesh, and minding the things of the flesh? "But they that are 
after the spirit do mind the things of the spirit. For to be car- 
nally-minded is death (to the spirit), but to be spiritually-minded 
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against 
God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can 
be ; so, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God." 
Rom. iii, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 

I would have you particularly notice the last quoted sentence. 
" They that are in the flesh cannot please God" Show me then 
the married man who is not emphatically in the flesh, and con- 
tinually minding the things of the flesh. The man that thinks he 
is not, and lives in nature's works, must be blind indeed. 

" Oh ! blind to truth and all God's works below, 
Who fancy bliss to vice, to virtue woe. " 

It only remains for us to examine ourselves. Ask yourselves 

7 



50 



Abstract Evil. 



the question : Am I in the spirit (of Christ), walking in the 
spirit ? or am I in the flesh and minding the things of the flesh ? 
If we decide we are in the latter, then we must know we are 
weak through the flesh and under this law, and cannot please 
God. This is reason sufficient to justify any one in rejecting and 
coming out from the rudimental condition. But as before stated, 
if any one having no higher light than the Adamic gospel can 
and does rule and regulate his passions in the natural order, take 
a separate chamber, and give his soul to God on retiring to rest, 
never indulging his passions only as a duty for the sake of propa- 
gation, I would say of such a man as Jesus once said : " He is 
not far from the kingdom of God." He only wants one more 
step on the rounds of " Jacob's ladder " to enter the " new 
heavens," and be counted among the redeemed. But if this can- 
not be done, the only chance for the inebriate is " total absti- 
nence." I think, my friends, that legal prostitution (pardon my 
plainness of speech) is almost, if not quite, as odious in the sight 
of God as the illegal, for he will take the motive for every act in the 
final balance. Let me illustrate : Two men are in the habit of 
drinking to excess ; one rolls a barrel of brandy into his cellar 
and takes his excesses at home in a legal and orderly way ; the 
other visits grog-shops and takes his by the glass. I wish to 
know, now, first, if both do not drink brandy ? and, secondly, if it 
has not the same effect to demoralize and destroy both body and 
soul of each of them? If it does, where is the essential differ- 
ence between them ? Just so it is with perverted amativeness in 
the married state. Do not misunderstand me. I mean they are 
the same if they are both actuated from precisely the same mo- 
tive, as motive must constitute the crime. 

But I am told I might as well, and for the very same reason, 
condemn the faculties of the body that are given to satisfy 
hunger and thirst, as most men and women " now-a-days " use 
these faculties merely for the pleasure arising from mastication 
and deglutition, and not for use nor health. My response to this 
is : " Christ, our head and lead, has left us no such example ; 
nor such teaching as total abstinence from eating and drinking. 
He has left us the example of total abstinence from sexual inter- 
course ; He and His disciples denied themselves on this point, and 
taught all who would rise into newness of life to do the same, and 
the abuse of the faculties that satisfy hunger and thirst does not 
produce the one-thousandth part of the ills that " flesh is heir to," 



Perverted Amativeness. 



51 



that the abuse of amativeness does. This latter ramifies all na- 
tions, kindreds, tongues, colors, sexes and ages, from children to 
the hoary head, dealing out desolation, misery, destruction and 
death to soul and body, in the whole depth and breadth of its 
wide track around the world. This is reason enough for its en- 
tire abandonment. Dr. I) wight, in an essay on this subject, says : 
" I shall devote a little space to the mental effects from the abuse 
of amativeness (the sexual faculty). 

" I waive the quantum of the sin ; 

The hazard of concealing. 
But oh ! it hardens all within. 

And 'petrifies the feeling." 

It produces individual peevishness, fretfulness, irritability, and 
irrascibility, family jars and discords, conjugal quarrels, spite 
vented upon innocent children, domestics, and slaves, social 
animosities, sectarian strife, religious controversies, political 
traduction, civil commotion, legal revenge, professional abuse, 
academical conflicts, national wars ; all these will be coeval with 
our present dynasty of lust and concupiscence. All the propen- 
sities and appetites are excited and inflamed beyond the natural 
antagonistical control of the moral powers. But I cannot merely 
glance at these. Philoprogenitiveness loses the moral balance of 
conscientiousness and benevolence ; becomes detached from 
reflection, vacillating between excessive indulgence to children, 
and unjust repulsion. Adhesiveness, causing indifference and 
contempt for friends, taciturnity, seclusion, and hermitage. 
Inhabitiveness, causing indifference to home — ■ loaferism. Con- 
centrativeness inducing fickleness, inapplication, unperserverance, 
ennui, a social blank. Acquisitiveness, leading to improvidence 
for one's self, household or the world, or the opposite ; exciting 
unjust unlawful means to obtain money for the gratification of 
lust, pride, vanity, etc. Alimentiveness. giving irregularity and 
depravity of appetite ; all manner of cravings, gnawings, and 
perversions, paving the way for flesh, grease, narcotics, stimu- 
lants, excitants, irritants, etc. ; by connection with perverted 
taste one of the principal foundations for chewing tobacco, betel, 
opium, etc. But among all the fountains of the brain, vitative- 
ness is the most supremely affected by perverted amativeness, 
especially artificial indulgence. But in the wonderfully incom- 
prehensible result, by which mankind can be the authors of life, 
the vitality is suspended for a time. The spirit flies to the portal 



52 



Abstract Evil. 



for its exit. It returns to stay, but not to live under criminal 
repetitions of similar acts. The source of life is dried up. In 
this sin, and still more in self-abuse, we are " dead while we 
live " — a living death at the core of life ! Existence becomes a 
shame, a burden, then a curse. The organ of vitativeness so 
injured by this abuse has the same relation to life that the heart 
has to the blood or the lungs to the atmosphere. Life perverted 
to lust is an outrage as positive as to turn the blood from the 
heart to the stomach, or the air from the lungs to the heart. 
Excited amativeness, then, is a mountain of darkness and death 
between our very existence and its fountain, and you might as 
well expect the sun to warm and enlighten the earth behind an 
eclipse of the moon. Lust is an iceberg between the mind and 
its fountain of life. But here we make the fundamental error 
when we consider these faculties were created for the insane 
paroxysms of gratification ! * * Amativeness in repose results 
in health, sanity and felicity ; in excitement, in disease, imbecil- 
ity, impotency, fatuity, dementation, idiocy, insanity and 
death. * * The pores of the skin ooze out their foetid odors ; 
then perfumes must disguise the stench. Through the same 
channel come all artificials, gewgaws, ribbons, flaunting colors, 
pouting manners, sickly sentimentalism, etc. But the moral 
powers suffer the most deadly ruin in self-abuse. It terminates 
not upon the body, but lights upon the moral powers, which have 
their antagonisms of sin, death, hell, and devils in the perverted 
animal propensities — amativeness, the foundation pillar. Under 
this pollution and conscious shame, hope of happiness here and 
hereafter is forfeited, and as hope departs religious gloom and 
melancholy are the natural successors. Despondency and despair 
people the imagination with phantoms, ghosts, demons, and 
gorgons dire. Shut out from communion with light, purity, and 
holiness, they are in " fellowship with darkness, " haunted visions, 
and mysteries. With truth and faith perverted, a disordered 
marvelousness gluts every sense. The vacant soul roams in mid- 
night darkness, awaiting a still darker realm and more horrid 
gloom beyond the valley of death. In the progress of this 
vice veneration suffers, too shameful and impure to face man, 
how can he face God ? If he worships the divinity at all, it is in 
his own temperature of icebergs and tartarian agues. That 
inextinguishable divinity in the efflux of his moral nature flickers 
in ite socket. He seeks escape from his misery in some artificial 



Marriage Civil, not Christian. 



53 



device of theological divination of man's devising ; hides his face 
upon some anxious seat, or under the curtain of some revival. 
He has no eyes to see that morality which saves him from his 
sins. He gropes into the lap of some of the children of the 
mother of mysteries (harlots) to be saved in his sins. We 
should have the most clear convictions that such abuse of our- 
selves is the blackest cloud that intervenes between our souls and 
the temple of goodness ; that while in this sin prayers and 
churches will not save us. * * * Talk about educating our- 
selves for happiness under our present institutions ! As well 
plant the vegetable before the sun at the focus of a burning lens. 
Our carnal legislation and social systems of inhumanity and lust 
are galling every muscle, sinew, and nerve to the bone. Hu- 
manity is reeking in gore ; groans, tears, blood, weeping, wail- 
ing and gnashing of teeth are food to the mind. * * * 
Marriage nearly always originates in lust ; and the prevalent 
idea that it gives license to indulgence is a bane to health and 
morality. One upas of the age ; and until the mistaken idea of 
happiness by animal gratification is cast from us, as an obsolete 
dream, we cannot understand Christ's adultery of the heart ! Oh ! 
how long will society live under the destructive, putrefying theory 
that lust may be conceived without sin ! " Echo answers, Oh ! 
how long % Here, again, we have evidence piled on evidence from 
among ourselves, corroborative of what I have said, and, not- 
withstanding 1 will agree, and even affirm, that marriage and 
orderly generation are the true and best conditions for the natural 
man on the animal plane of life, yet it can form no part of 
Christ's kingdom. It belongs exclusively to the " children of 
this world," but not to Christ's followers and children, who are 
not of this world ; for " the children of this world marry and are 
given in marriage. Those (of us) who shall be accounted worthy 
to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead neither 
marry nor are given in marriage, but areas the angels in heaven " 
(who do not marry). — Luke xx, 3J:. It follows, then, that all 
true Christians, in order that they " shall be accounted worthy," 
must not marry. "We should be more consistent than Doctor 
Dwight, who, after telling us that marriage nearly always orig- 
inates in lust (he might have omitted the adverb nearly), turns 
and tries to make it a holy institution, and thinks that under it 
true happiness may be found. Delusive idea ! Has it not been 
tried for more than five thousand years ? "Where on the wide 



54 



Abstract Evil. 



earth is the man or the woman who has found it ? What said 
the wise man ? "I made me great works ; I builded me houses ; 
I planted me vineyards ; I made me gardens and orchards, and 
I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit. I made me pools to 
water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees ; I got me 
servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house ; also 
I had great possessions, of great and small cattle, above all that 
were in Jerusalem before me ; I had gathered me also silver and 
gold, and peculiar treasure of the kings of the provinces ; I got 
me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons 
of men, as musical instruments and that of all sorts. I was great, 
and increased more than all that were before me ; * * and 
whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them ; I withheld 
not my heart from any joy. * * Then I looked on all the 
works my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored 
to do ; and behold, all was vanity, and a vexation of spirit. * * 
Therefore, I hated life, because the work that is wrought under 
the sun is grievous unto me." — Ecclesiastes i, 4 to 12, 18. Who, 
after this, can have courage to try the experiment again ? So far 
it has proved an utter failure. " Why cumbereth it the ground ? " 
Doctor Dwight seems not to understand Christ's adultery of the 
heart himself. Let me explain : The worldly elements are : — 
" The lust of the flesh ; the lust of the eye ; and the pride of life." 
The conception of these worldly lusts, or any of them, in the mind, 
is sin. The individual chooses to think on them, instead of his 
duty to God ; this is the first step in the wrong direction. Then, 
when the mind becomes fixed on them, this is sin or adultery in 
the heart ; then the very highest part of our nature has yielded. 
Next, the mind directs the eye to look out for the object of its 
carnal desires. All, then, that is wanting is the opportunity for 
its consummation, which, of course, is effected at the earliest con- 
venience. The man then is confessedly a " poor sinner in thought, 
word, and deed ! " But he stands accountable, because he chose 
to think upon it ; he chose to fix it in his mind ; he chose to look 
out for an object ; he chose to consummate it ; and he chooses 
not to be damned for it ! but would have Christ suffer in his 
stead — the innocent for the guilty ! But in this last, the culprit 
cannot have his choice. God will attend to this in due time. 
He cannot shift the sin he chose to commit on the shoulders of 
another. This being true of one sin, it is true with regard to all 



Individual Kesponsibility. 



55 



the sins of a man's life, either of thought, word, or of deed. Is 
not this plain ? 

If, as the doctor has said, marriage originates in lust (he was a 
married man and ought to know), then the first thought to ob- 
tain a wife is sinful. The man commits the heart's adultery be- 
fore he obtains the means for its manifestation. And here is 
where the doctor loses sight of himself — the sight of duty — the 
sight of Christ — the sight of heaven — the sight of God. And 
just so it is with all who may choose to fix their minds on pleas- 
ures instead of their duty to Him to whom they must " render 
an account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good 
or whether they be evil." But the doctor is to be pitied. Being 
married, he was in a dilemma, and had to take one of the two 
horns, either to come out and lead an entirely pure life, after the 
example of Christ, and hence become a Shaker, or else gloss over 
the marriage state and stick to his wife. The difficulty, it seems, 
was : " He had married a wife, and, therefore, he could not 
come." Luke xiv, 20. That woman in the valley of Sorek 
was too hard for him. After slaying his thousands, and carrying 
off the gates of Gaza, he was shorn of his locks, and is now 
grinding in the prison-house of the Philistines. Nay, ever since 
" the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, 
and began to choose for themselves " (Gen. vi, 2), lust and nothing 
else has been directing this matter. Those sons of God took it 

out of the hands of God, and their vile progeny " whose 

ignoble blood has crept through scoundrels ever since the flood," 
have kept it out, and so man stands accountable for all the evils 
that follow in its train. 

Thus, I have answered the query why we do not deny the de- 
mands of hunger and thirst as well as that of propagation, still 
admitting the abuse of the former. Let us all retire to our 
homes, to our closets, and to our knees, and ask God for strength 
to enable us to do His will. 

If we find it impossible to do it there, then return to our 
Father's house, where strength can be found, " for in our Father's 
house are many mansions." 



GOD'S LOVE. 



In my remarks concerning the love of God in the soul, I did 
not think whether it would be understood that the love of the 
individual should be co-extensive with that of the Creator, or not. 
It may very rationally be affirmed that nothing which is finite 
can be co-extensive with the infinite — the creature with the 
Creator. It does seem to me that there must be a point where 
the wearied thought in its flight must stop to rest and return 
home. But this partakes too much of the speculative. I dislike 
to get into water so deep that my line cannot take the sounding. 
It has been well written that " the great occasion of disputes is 
that of men extending their inquiries, and letting their thoughts 
go beyond their capacity, to wander into those depths where they 
can find no sure footing." This position I wish to avoid. 

The admission of limited thought implies limited love, and 
seems disastrous, as the advocates of this claim the right to set 
the limits of their love, most of whom would incline to make 
the circle very narrow. 

The good Apostle John says : " God is love, and he that 
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him." 1 John iv, 
16. This, at least, leaves no room for hate. This declaration of 
the good apostle needs some explanation. God is infinite spirit. 
Love is an essential attribute, as well as power, wisdom, etc. 
"We speak as correctly when we say God is power, God is 
wisdom, God is truth, as when we say God is love. But it will 
not do to apply any of the negatives of these attributes to God — 
such as God is hate, God is weakness, God is folly, falsehood, etc. 
So it may be seen that all the apostle meant was, that if we 
live in God's attributes, or the attribute of love, we live in Him 
and He in us. In fact love is an attribute so prominent, that if 
we are in its possession, we can do no violence to any of God's 
attributes ; hence the apostle said truly : " If we dwell in love 
(hate having no part in us), we dwell in God, and God in us. " 
"We will emulate God's love, if we have His love in the soul ; 



Self-Pkeservation. 



57 



that is, extend our love to all mankind, as far as we have capacity, 
and, if our capacity is unlimited, then we should equal God in 
loving ; but if it is limited, then love to the extent of that limit — 

" Grasp the whole world of reason, life, and sense, 
In one close system of benevolence ; 
Happiness is kinder, in whate'er degree, 
And height of bliss, but height of charity. 
God loves from whole to parts — but human soul 
Must rise from individual to the whole. 
****** ** 
Friend, parent, neighbor, first it will embrace, 
His country next, and next the human race. 
Wide and more wide, the o'erflowings of the mind 
Take every creature in of every kind. " 

Such are the souls " who dwell in God and God in them. " 

Those professing Christians, who contend for, and strive to 
justify themselves in partial love, argue in this wise : They say 
" self-preservation is the first law of nature, " and this includes 
self -sustenance in every sense — to kill rather than be killed, and 
to cheat rather than be cheated ; and seem not to know that all this 
is contrary to the teaching and life of Christ, whom they pretend 
to follow ; saying also, "who can love a mean man ? Besides, they 
say, it is impossible to love any thing that is not lovely ; that love 
begets love, hate begets hate, and every thing begets its like ; and 
the Apostle Paul gives this piece of sensible and good advice, viz. : 
" If any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his 
own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. ' 1 
1 Tim. v, 8. This was sensible enough for the kind of people 
Paul was addressing — those who had not left the rudimental 
life — who were babes in Christ, who had only made a beginning 
in the gospel work. 

I admit, that while men continue in the private, worldly rela- 
tions, they are yet on the animal plane, and their loves must be 
necessarily partial and selfish, the same as with bird and beast ; 
consequently theirs is not God's love, but animal love. But all 
partiality must cease when we come out of that condition to 
Christ, and enter " the new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth 
righteousness." 

Paul gave different counsel to the more advanced : " Let every 
one please his neighbor " (instead of himself), " for Christ did not 
please himself." E-om. xv, 2. Again : " Let no man seek his 
8 



58 



God's Love. 



own, but his neighbor's good." 1 Cor. x, 24. Thus we have 
another standard by which to test our Christianity. If we can- 
not come on this ground, we may know we are not of that num- 
ber who are one with Christ, one with God, with His love dwell- 
ing in us. " Thou Father in me and I in Thee that thev mav 
also be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou has sent 
me." John xvii, 21. 

But, I am asked : ; *' Why may I not be a Christian outside of 
the Shakers as well as among them ? Why cannot I cease from 
propagation and live above the rudiments of the world, lead a 
•Christian's life, and be numbered with the redeemed, as well 
as to come and submit to your discipline?" I will answer: 
Why cannot a man get a good education without going to school 
and submitting to school discipline ? Why cannot a man learn a 
trade without binding himself to service and obedience for a 
term of years ? Why cannot a man learn the art of war without 
going to West Point and first becoming a mere automaton — 
without being obedient to the letter to his superiors, and without 
question of why or wherefore \ Why cannot he learn it just as 
well at home with his wife and family ? All would say at once, 
a man entertaining such ideas was a brainless idiot. Just as brain- 
less is the man who supposes he can gain his salvation and the 
treasures of eternal life without going to the God-appointed 
place, and submitting himself in child-like obedience to the God- 
appointed agents, and be instructed in that which, as yet. he 
knows but little about. 

God has said, He has placed his ,; fire in Zion and furnace in 
Jerusalem " for the trial and purification of His people. We 
then can be tried and purified only where the fire and furnace are. 
Here is where " the Lion and the Lamb shall lie down together 
and a little child shall lead them " — (the great and meek ones of 
the earth) — Isa. ii, 6. ''Suffer little children (says Christ) to 
come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom 
of God. Terily I say unto you whosoever shall not receive the 
Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." 
Mark xi, 14, 15. By this we are made to perceive that the sacri- 
fice to obtain the Kingdom is as great or greater, than to ob- 
tain any thing earthly, and must of necessity be so. as that which 
is to be obtained is worth more to the soul than all worlds and all 
therein. We here see that men must become as little children. 
What are the condition and qualities of little children \ Are 



Vital Questions. 



59 



they not devoid of concupiscence, sexual and worldly lusts ? Are 
they not dependent on their parents, lather and mother ? Obe- 
dient, simple, pure? Then, if the Saviour tells the truth, we 
may all know just how we have to, become, or utterly fail to en- 
ter the Kingdom of God. " By their fruits shall ye know 
them." And Christ says, " an evil or corrupt tree cannot bring 
forth good fruit." Others may take issue with me, and ask, what 
are the fruits of the marriage tree ? And answer that children 
are the fruits of marriage ; and Christ says, of such are the King- 
dom of Heaven ; and what constitutes the heavenly Kingdom 
must be good, and the declaration of the Son of God that the 
fruit is good, and this fruit is the production of the marriage 
tree, is proof positive that the marriage tree is good, or else it 
could not produce this good fruit. With triumph you say, here 's 
a " gordion knot" for you! Let ns apply the sword of truth, 
and see whether or not it can be severed. 

The sophistry in this reasoning consists in not only perverting 
the meaning of the Saviour, but wrongly placing the fruits of 
marriage. It should not be on the child, but on the individuals 
who form the marriage relation. What kind of fruits does it 
produce in them f Does it produce good fruits in them ? Does 
it produce purity, chastity, holiness, godliness, and love for one's 
neighbor ? Does it produce in them the state of the little child 
that knows no lust ? If not, how are we to become as the little 
child, in order to be saved ? But does it not produce the reverse of 
all this? Does it not produce impurity, unholiness, nngodliness, and 
selfishness ? These are vital questions. I affirm that under it no 
man can possibly " love his neighbor as himself, and do unto all 
mankind as he would have them do unto him," in similar circum- 
stances, without himself becoming a town or county charge. 
That relation must be selfish. But, thanks to God, it can be done 
in Christ's Kingdom. But further: If innocent children prove 
marriage to be an incorrupt tree, they also prove the same of 
whoredoms and the vilest incest ; thus the gordion knot is 
severed. 

It seems that there is nothing on the broad earth that man will 
not do to save his worldly lusts. To him heaven would be hell 
without them. He will argue for them ; swear for them ; toil 
for them ; sweat for them ; rise up early ; sit up late ; lie for 
them ; steal for them ; smile for them ; weep for them ; suffer 
for them; fight, bleed and die for them. They are the life of 



60 



God's Love. 



the world, and " what will not a man give for life ? " And 
although clouds of witnesses affirm that Christ has re-appeared 
and established His church upon earth, and is the head thereof, 
from which the worldly lusts are excluded, yet the whole world 
wanders after the beast, " both professor and profane, and will 
not be persuaded to renounce them for happiness and heaven, 
although hundreds have arisen from the dead, and now declare to 
a perishing world that such renunciation is the only possible way 
to obtain it. How well the scriptures are verified which say : 
i ' In the latter times there shall be scoffers and mockers walking 
•after their own lusts, saying, where is the promise of His coming ? 
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were 
from the beginning of the creation." II Pet. hi, 4. It has been 
and still is the nature of man, to take his own way, and follow 
his own inclinations ; and hence the whole world, in a moral 
point of view, lies prostrate, mangled and bleeding at every pore. 
And all this the consequence of each acting from his own selfish 
impulses. I venture to affirm that there is no man, from the 
king on his throne to the beggar in the street, who would not be 
better, spiritually, if he were willing to be advised in all moral 
action by another, although the latter might be intellectually his 
inferior ; because all men are liable, when acting from their own 
desires, to be led astray by them, instead of being ruled by con- 
science, judgment, and reason. Whereas, they should coincide 
with the poet — 

"What conscience dictates to be done, 

Or warns me not to do, 
This, teach me more than hell to shun, 

That, more than heaven pursue." 

Our friend would always advise us from his conscience and 
judgment ; and hence would doubtless cross our desires, which 
would be a benefit to us. The great wisdom of God is displayed 
in Christ's church, where this counsel can always be had. Happy 
indeed is the individual who avails himself or herself of it, and 
surrenders entirely to its control. In no other way can we sur- 
render ourselves to Christ, and those who do so are truly the ones 
who can lead a sinless life. For the moment our own will, or 
the will of any individual, usurps the place of this judgment, 
Christ is denied, and passion, inclination and private feeling 
warp the understanding and lead the soul astray. 



God's Agents. 



61 



Jesus Christ himself could not have been saved in doimr His 
own will ; but as the unfolding spirit of God within Him made 
known the Father's will, He had to deny himself, yield His own, 
and obey the Father or else be lost. Can we be saved any 
cheaper? ]STot at all. God, through this faithful agent, and His 
sub-agents, has established His kingdom or church on earth. To 
receive these agents is to receive Christ, and God. To deny 
them is to deny Christ and God, and cut off our prospect of sal- 
vationr Hence in doing his own will no soul can enter the king- 
dom of heaven. 

Still, with a modest show of reason I may be asked : What 
would be the consequence of an error in judgment of the gov- 
erning power ? We may as well ask, what would be the conse- 
quence of an error in the judgment of Christ himself. If God 
has an agent, and we receive the agent, we then do what God 
requires of us — certainly He cannot condemn us for doing what 
He requires of us ! But I will answer the question. It is im- 
possible for them to lead you into moral evil ; because it is always 
their conscience and judgment — God in the soul — that directs, 
and not their natural desires and passional nature. The greatest 
and only danger is, that of their yielding to our desires, through 
sympathy,and fearing we could not yet bear the whole truth. Any 
one could direct a neighbor to his advantage morally, even though 
his inferior in goodness ; but no sinner could tell him how to be 
saved, because of such not being saved from sin. How much more 
reliable, then, is the advice from one who gives it as Christ did, — 
by example more than by words. Coming to Zion, then, we 
cannot, with any reason or consistency, set up our own will in 
contradistinction to the judgment there established ; but must 
become as little children, and learn how to be saved from all sin. 
But how often have people fallen under conviction for their sins 
and gone to their minister for relief, and found none ; because 
the minister himself was their co-sinner, and himself bound to 
say with the poet Burns — 

' ' Yet, O Lord, confess I must ; 
At times Pm fash'd wi' fleshly lust, 
And sometimes, too, wi' worldly trust 

Vile self gets in. 
But thou remembers we are dust 

Defil'd in sin." 

This is all the priest can do for the poor sinner, acknowledge 



62 



God's Love. 



himself in the same category ; but, being pressed by the convicted 
applicant, some such consolation as this is given by the blind 
guide : " My dear brother, you must throw yourself in confidence 
on God's mercy, which endure th forever. He well knows our 
weaknesses, temptations, and trials. Lean on the blessed Jesus ; 
He is our only hope. There is no man liveth and sinneth not.' 
Believe His holy word. He is the Almighty God, who took upon 
Him our sinful nature and satisfied His Father — that is, satisfied 
Himself. God, by this very means, found out our precise condi- 
tion. The great God became man for this very purpose. He 
was God and He was man. He died for us, and ' bore our sins in 
His body on the tree.' In the agonies of death He asked His 
heavenly Father to forgive the wicked Jews, and you know the 
Father would do whatever the Son would ask, because the Son 
was the Father Himself !" etc. The applicant, perceiving some 
inconsistency, begins to waver, but is told emphatically not to 
yield to doubts, for " he that doubteth is damned already." 
" Great is the mystery of godliness." The poor sinner, fearing 
worse consequences, brings himself to the sticking point, and ex- 
claims, " Lord, I believe ! " 

When Christ came into the world and was commissioned to 
make known the w T ay of eternal life to man, we are told that 
u when He was gone forth into the way, there came one running 
and kneeling to Him, saying : " Good master, what shall I do that 
I may inherit eternal life ? " Jesus answered him : " Thou 
knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery," etc. The 
young man, it seems from the statement, was a moral man ; for 
he had kept these commandments from his youth up, and, sup- 
posing he was about right, he wished to know what he still 
lacked. Ah, how we hate to be told of our shortcomings ! Jesus 
said : "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell that thou hast and give to 
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; come, take up 
the cross and follow me." — Mark x, 17, 21. This was startling! 
The young man had no idea of meeting with such a rebuff ; had 
no doubt but what he should receive " faint praise " for his moral 
honesty ; but, instead, what a disappointment ! The sword of 
truth penetrated his heart, and all at once he discovered he had 
done little or nothing toward his soul's salvation. Shocked by 
the startling idea of giving up all, he was filled with sorrow, and 
slowly arose from his knees,and turned his back upon the Saviour 
and walked off, as many of us would to-day were Jesus here in 



Christian Compensation. 



63 



person to make us the same offer. Here the treasures of heaven 
and treasures of earth were placed before the young Jew, and we 
see which he chose, and will doubtless say he was foolish thus to 
reject the only means of his redemption for an earthly treasure 
which must so soon perish, and think we would not have done so. 
Christ this very day makes the same overtures to every one of us 
which He did to that young man, and He will receive nothing 
short of a strict compliance with the same requisition. JSTow let 
us see how many will do as the young man then did. If we do 
as he did, and we call him foolish, what should we call our- 
selves ? 

When Christ showed that all had to be forsaken that belongs 
to this world, Peter said to Him, " Lo, we have foresaken all, and 
have followed thee, what shall we have therefore ? " Jesus an- 
swered and said: "Verily, I say unto you, there is no man that hath 
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or 
children, or lands for my sake and the gospel's; but he shall re- 
ceive an hundred fold now in this time, houses and brethren and 
sisters, and mothers and children, and lands, with persecution, and 
in the world to come eternal life." Mark, x, 30. Here, now, 
every one has the opportunity given him to " show his faith." 
Christ plainly tells us what has to be forsaken and left and lost to 
us, and what is to be gained by the exchange. Who would not 
rather have a hundred houses than one? An hundred brothers 
and sisters than half a dozen ? An hundred fathers and mothers 
than one? An hundred children, with a hundred acres of land 
than one child and one acre ? These are all easily answered, but 
here comes the difficulty, who will exchange his wife for perse- 
cution. Who will exchange the whole, wife included, for eternal 
life in the world to come f Mind, we cannot get it without. It 
is a fair offer. Who will come to Christ and close in with the 
terms? We will never get it any cheaper if we wait till dooms- 
day. Can we expect to get it cheaper bye- and- bye, persuad- 
ing Christ to take back the persecution and let us keep the wife ? 
This is all that creates any difficulty on our part — all that makes 
us unwilling to exchange earth for heaven — the old heavens for 
the new. The exchange is all on the side of the new heavens till 
we come to the wife. It seems that a little persecution "is not 
adequate payment for the wife." So men act, and they might as 
well at once confess, that they had much rather have one cabin, 
one acre of land, and one wife, than to become heir to all the 



64: 



God's Love. 



heavenly promises, the wife being excluded ! Such is the madness 
and folly of men and the power of lust over them. 

The priest is as deep in this mire as the people, the surpliced 
minister as the layman ; and they strive to mislead their congrega- 
tions by telling them that Christ by using the term " left " did 
not mean to leave the partial relation for the hundredfold. He 
only meant to leave them in the affections, or out of the affec- 
tions, and love Him more than these other things ; as though 
Christ would be well satisfied if He could get only a little the 
larger portion of the love and affections, allowing the balance to 
go to the wife and children. But Christ shows that a divided 
love will not answer. He requires us to " love the Lord with all 
the heart, with all the mind, with all the might, and all the 
strength." If we do this, how much is left for wife or children, 
or other partial objects. Absolutely none. But let any one under- 
take to divide it, and see if he does not find the poet's words true : 

"I waste the matin lamp in sighs for thee; 
Thy image steals between my God and me. " 

The buffoon in the street only portrays what is in the minister's 
heart, when he jocundly sings : 

' ' A little wife well willed, 
A little house well filled, 
A little land well tilled, 
Is heaven enough for me. " 

If Christ had only promised an hundred wives instead of one 
as he did an hundredfold of other things that had to be forsaken, 
the exchange would have gone on successfully, and there would 
not have been the first difficulty in the way. So it is plain that it is 
the desire for a husband or wife, and partial goods that unmans the 
man — makes him a sinner instead of a saint — takes him to hell 
instead of heaven. But when in the end he finds that all his 
wife-seeking, and woman-loving, and lust-indulging not only lose 
their relish, and fail to~ give him happiness, but leave him vacant, 
lonely, desolate, weary, Christies s, Godless, and midnight dark- 
ness, he will close in with the song of the poet : 

" Though wisdom often sought me, 
I scorn'd the lore she brought me ; 

My only books 

Were woman's looks, 
And folly's all they've taught me." 



SCRIPTURE ANALYSIS - PRE-EXISTENCE 
OF CHRIST. 



There are two apothegms, the truth of which, I doubt not, will 
be conceded by all thinking men. 

First. All mankind are blinded by passion in proportion to its 
indulgence. 

Secondly. All are enabled to perceive more clearly the truths, 
or principles, that antagonize with the passions, in the propor- 
tion that they may subdue or deny the passional efflux. Let me 
explain. 

Love and hatred, truth and falsehood, flesh and spirit, antagon- 
ize. So far as we yield to the spirit of hatred, we lose the pos- 
session and sight of love. When we allow ourselves to run into 
falsity, we lose sight of truth. To the extent we indulge the 
flesh and allow its dominion over us, just that far we lose sight 
of the spirit, and are shorn of its benign influences. 

It so happens that mankind have allowed the lower passions to 
have the ascendancy over them, some ignorantly, others willfully, 
insomuch that they have become almost wholly blinded to spirit- 
ual truth, and go groping about like blind men under a noonday 
sun ; and the sole reason is, that they have allowed their lower 
passions, instead of the spirit of God in their consciences, to 
govern them. Whilst under the influence of hatred toward any 
person or thing, it is impossible that we should love that person 
or thing, Lord Bacon's paradox to the contrary notwithstanding. 
He says (paradox lSo. 10) : " The Christian loves all men as 
himself, and yet hates some men with a perfect hatred." Now, 
I differ with the learned man. It is impossible for a man to love 
all, and at the same time to hate any part of all ; for the moment 
he acknowledges that he hates a part, he not only contravenes 
the assertion that he loves all, and renders it nugatory, but 
makes it palpably false, and, false as it is, it is nevertheless in 
perfect keeping with all his paradoxes, numbering 34 ; and not 
only so, but it is very similar to much that is said to be believed 
9 



66 



Sckipture Analysis. 



by the professing world. This is equal to saying he can cause 
" the same thing to be and not to be at the same time," which 
Locke says is impossible with God. 

One of two things must be true in this case of the Baconian 
Christian : Either the men he hates with a perfect hatred are 
not a part of the all men whom he loves, or else he must hate 
himself with a perfect hatred in order to enable him to love all 
men as himself. If he hates himself with a perfect hatred, and 
then loves all men as himself, he then not only hates some men 
with a perfect hatred, but he hates all men with a perfect hatred, 
which makes him a devil instead of a Christian. So the Reverend 
Lord only mistook the title ; but a rather serious blunder taking 
a devil for a saint ! But in this he has proven that hate can have 
no part in the Christian. Likewise, the " flesh and the spirit 
being contrary the one to the other," we cannot be in possession 
of both at the same time, nor can we alternate with them and be 
Christians ; yet this is the case with the professing world living 
in the flesh, claiming to be in the spirit, and wishing to be called 
Christians or followers of Christ, who, though tempted, did not 
live in the flesh. And as they have no works by which to show 
forth their right to the title, they come with the Bible as their 
voucher, and attempt to prove by it that they are what they are 
not, and expound the Bible to make it coincide with their ideas 
of what constitutes a true Christian. 

If men would honestly take the Bible and search for truth, in- 
stead of searching to find support for some creed, or fanciful 
notion of their own creation, there would not be such a diversity 
of opinion as at present exists. But, 1 i the natural man (the man 
who lives in the earthly order, professor or profane) receiveth 
not the things of the spirit of God ; for they are foolishness to 
him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually dis- 
cerned." — 1 Cor, ii, 14. Hence, the Jewish Sanhedrim and all 
the Councils from that day to this, with all the Kings, Popes, 
Bishops, Cardinals, and laymen, and all commentators on the 
Bible text, being earthly and carnal men, have failed to unite on 
the plainest truths which are recorded in the good book. They 
have been for more than a thousand years, with all their exten- 
sive learning and research, " darkening counsel without (spiritual) 
knowledge," and instead of upholding truth, have been blinding 
each other, and those of the multitude, sometimes ignorantly, but 
often for sinister purposes, seeking to maintain and support their 



False Teachings. 



67 



own peculiar creeds and dogmas, at the expense of truth, until 
they have made infidels almost without number. 

It was well said : " Canst thou by searching find out God ? " 
It may be asked : If not by searching, how shall we find God ? 
I answer by obedience to the light within — to the dictates of 
" God within the mind." By so doing, step by step, we will 
increase in the knowledge of God, and " find him out to perfec- 
tion ; " and finally " have our lives hid with Christ in God." Col. 
iii, 3. Jesus said : " I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and 
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and pru- 
dent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so 
it seemed good in thy sight." Matt, xi, 25, 26. 

The wiseacres of this so-called Christian world have not only 
failed to find God for themselves and their flocks, but have 
placed themselves in the condition of the Pharisees wdio were 
always scraping the outside of the platter ; of whom Christ said : 
" Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees — hypocrites ! for ye com- 
pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made ye 
make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." 
Matt, xxiii, 15. This will seem a heavy charge against those who 
are honestly (?) trying to benefit the race, and it may be asked : 
How is it they make him the child of hell % I will answer : 
because they lead off from the only true source, thus directing 
souls in the wrong road, in which the further they travel the 
more they are separated from God ; and they acknowledge them- 
selves sinners, which is true, and that they cannot live free from 
sin in this life, which is false. Thus they not only lead them 
into untruth, but make them feel justification in sin, as it were 
giving them license to sin ; and every one they commit only adds 
to the Alps which are already between them and God. They 
make them believe, that notwithstanding their "sins are as scar- 
let, Christ's righteousness will be imputed to them. " Thus, with 
their sanction and support, the flocks go on sinning, " believing 
a lie that they may be damned." This is reason enough. 

Before I proceed to the analysis of the scriptures, which are 
believed to declare the pre-existence and supreme Godship of 
Christ, I will, for the benefit of the young student, make a brief 
statement of the different kinds of reading he must encounter 
and consider, and of which the Bible is chiefly composed ; and if 
he comes to the task unbiased by creed, his studies will be ren- 



OS 



Scripture Analysis 



dered comparatively easy. It may be summed up under the fol- 
lowing heads : 

I. History. — Relation of past events or facts. 

II. Metaphor. — Words used with other meanings besides the 
ones originally affixed to them, such as head of a person or 
church ; ~body of a person, or body of the church ; god, angel, 
serpent, vulture, eagle, sun, moon, stars, lion, lamb, bear, fox, 
dog, and other things ; beasts and fowls, applied to man, which 
are not uncommon throughout the Bible. These should rarely be 
taken literally — only where the sense is unequivocal and plain ; 
otherwise reference is had metaphorically to man, which I shall 
hereafter more clearly exhibit. 

III. Allegory. — Continued metaphor. 

IV. Emblem. — Corporeal objects standing for moral prop- 
erties ; as the Dove is an emblem of meekness. 

V. Type. — One object made to represent another mystically. 

VI. Inspirational. — Things supernaturally induced. 

VII. Devotional. — Duties to God. Acts of worship. 

VIII. Prophetical. — Foretelling future events. 

IX. Doctrinal. — Positive teaching — true or false. 

X. Theological. — The science of Divine things. 

These, with the addition of figure, which is applicable to all 
the rest, comprehend the principal points of study. The whole 
book, the historical as well as other parts, abounds in metaphor 
and allegory, but from the days of the Florentine down to the 
honest Bishop Colenso, the metaphor of its history has been 
ignored to the great disparagement of the whole Book — some 
of which I will notice in a subsequent discourse. But when it 
is known that the whole relates to man and the works of God in 
him, and with him, for his progress, elevation, and happiness, 
and not to blind him by a mysterious reference to foreign angels, 
foreign bodies, foreign beings, a foreign God, and natural beasts, 
birds, reptiles, etc., the difficulties of understanding it, fixing and 
analyzing the parts, will be greatly lessened, and, by keeping this 
in mind, the student will generally be led to the true exegesis. 
But in no case should one explanation neutralize another. Our 
reason must decide when it is metaphor, and when it is not, 



Revelation Subject to Reason. 



69 



When reason revolts at the literalization, we may generally know 
that it, figuratively, relates to man. Locke says : " He that 
believes without having any reason for believing, may be in love 
with his own fancies, but neither seeks truth as he ought, nor 
pays the obedience due to his Maker, who would have him use 
those discerning faculties He has given him to keep him out of 
mistake and error. * * * 

True light in the mind can be nothing else but the evidence 
of the truth of any proposition ; and if it is not a self-evident 
proposition, all the light it can have is from the validity of the 
proofs upon which it is received. * * *. r If reason must not 
examine the truth of revelation or persuasion by something 
extrinsical to the persuasions themselves, inspirations and delu- 
sions, truth and falsehood, will have the same measure, and will 
not be possible to be distinguished. " But to the texts. As an 
evidence that there were " sons and daughters of God " existing 
somewhere in space before Universe was made, we are referred 
to the 38th and 39th Chapters of Job. These chapters are 
among the most beautiful and well-written allegories in the 
book, and have no reference to a period previous to the creation 
of the visible universe. The visible and material earth, sea, etc., 
are used while the entire reference is to man and the old earth 
and heavens, that are to pass away. (What I mean by the old 
earth and heavens, is the work of God in and with man anterior 
to the first Christian dispensation, also the condition of all those 
who live in the heavens and earth that man lived in then.) 
Especial reference is had to the texts which read : " where wast 
thou when I laid the foundation of the earth ? declare if thou 
hast understanding. Who hath laid the measure thereof, if thou 
knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it ? Whereupon 
are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner 
stones thereof, when the morning stars sang together, and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy ? " JSTow consider : " Who is this that 
darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge ? " Who can 
conceive of pillars, and corner stones, and foundations laid for 
earth or moon? Where is the way where the light dwelleth ? 
What earth were the wicked shaken out of ? What stars sang 
together, and what sons shouted for joy ? What light from the 
wicked withhold en ? What wicked ? What high arm broken ? 
What gates of death opened ? What doors the shadow of death ? 
What paths to the house of darkness ? Who were the bottles 



70 



Scripture Analysis. 



of this " old heaven " that contained drops of dew, or water to 
moisten the clods, and what clods, of the old earth % Or to melt 
the stony heart ? Were all these questions now asked with regard 
to the present existing churches, there are few so dull as not to 
be able to answer them correctly. Then, why not apply them in 
the same manner to the order of God in the old heavens and 
earth ? It is easily done. These are allegories, and refer to man 
in the old heavens, at which time there were veritable sons and 
daughters " to sing and shout for joy " for the order of God 
then established with its pillars and comer stones, as the new 
earth and heavens are now likewise established, which are the 
antitype of the old. We need not go to the moon, nor the stellar 
heavens, nor refer to our globe, for an explanation of any part of 
it. The metaphor is very common in the language of our own 
time. To speak of persons being pillars of the church, stars of 
the first magnitude, lion of the day, etc., is common. If it is 
necessary to use such metaphors now, with the profusion and 
richness of the English tongue, how much more must it have 
been necessary in the infancy and great poverty of language that 
existed then, in the very days of sign and symbol, when the first 
characters of inspiration were written on scraps of parchment on 
leaves, and the inner bark of trees ? All commentators on the 
Bible text have not heretefore given half enough attention to its 
historical metaphor ; and any, who persistently cling to the 
literalization of the chapters noticed, are as simple as the woman, 
who insisted that the earth was flat and stood on a pillar of rock, 
and upon being asked what the pillar rested on, replied : " O, it's 
rock all the way down. " 

Secondly. " Moreover, brethren, our fathers were all baptized 
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat of the 
same spiritual meat, and did drink of the same spiritual drink ; 
for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and 
that Rock was Christ." — I Cor. x, 14. 

These texts are easily understood without any reference to the 
Godship, or pre-existence of Christ. To be baptized unto Moses, 
was to be baptized into the spirit of the Law administered by him, 
just as Christ's disciples had to be ' ' baptized unto His death, 
etc." The spiritual meat and drink were the spirit and the life 
of the work He daily administered. The same as to eat the flesh 
and drink the blood of Christ is to receive His word and doctrine 
in order to have His life in us. As Moses was the God-anointed 



Attributes of Deity. 



71 



and appointed agent in the old heavens, this food came from 
him ; he was that Rock, and therefore the Christ of the law dis- 
pensation. In fact this positively denies the pre-existence of the 
Christ of the new heavens, because Moses was the type of the 
latter, and the type must precede the anti-type ; whereas, if 
the Christ of the regenerative order had existed previous to 
Moses, that would destroy his typeship. 

Thirdly. u Christ was the power of God and the wisdom of 
God." It is asked if these were Christ Jesus ? I answer affirm- 
atively. Power and wisdom are attributes of Deity. Jesus did 
or did not possess them. If he did not, he was not the Christ ; 
if he did, he was the Christ. He showed forth God's power in 
the works he wrought, and his wisdom in all he did and said. 
He was, therefore, the Christ — a partaker of the divine nature, 
of which, also, each and all of his followers must be partakers. — 
II Pet. i, 4. 

Fourthly. " But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come 
forth to me, who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have 
been from old, from everlasting." — Mi call v, 2. I see nothing 
in this text declarative of the Supreme Godship of Christ or of 
his pre-existence. In the first place it says that he who is to be 
ruler in Israel shall come out of Bethlehem (I say this with the 
knowledge that the best critics say he was born in Nazareth) ; 
secondly, the coming forth into existence is future ; thirdly, when 
that future time arrived a child was born named Jesus, who 
claimed to be the very ruler spoken of by the prophet. This 
text is quoted in Matthew ii, 3, where the word everlasting is 
omitted. But if it is insisted on, I will remark that the term 
" everlasting " signifies eternity, past and future. So that if his 
goings forth were from the infinite past, the Supreme must have 
been meant, who could not have come forth from Bethlehem only 
in the subordinate sense, for he (the Supreme) existed there 
before Bethlehem did. But it is insisted that the Infinite Being, 
in his humanity, came forth from Bethlehem. This may be ad- 
mitted with the following explanation: God, who was from 
everlasting, was in Christ Jesus, who, it is said, came out of 
Bethlehem. But this does not make Christ Jesus the Supreme, 
nor affirm his pre-exist en ce 0 Again : If we notice the context 
we will find that the prophecy had reference to a man. " And 
this man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come." 



72 



Scripture Analysis. 



Verse three, speaks of his having brethren : " Then the remnant 
of his brethren shall return, etc." It would not be sensible to 
say that God the Supreme was a man, and had brethren to re- 
turn. For further proof I would cite the student to John vii, 
42 : u Hath not the scripture said that Christ should come out 
of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where 
David was ? " It is conclusive that if Christ was to come of the 
seed of David, he could not have come from everlasting, for 
David nor of " his seed were from everlasting. Again, if he 
came from David's seed, he could not have existed prior to 
David. So pre-existence is flatly denied. 

Fifthly. " After me cometh a man which is preferred before 
me, for he was before me." — John i, 30. It is only necessary to 
notice here that it was a man spoken of as coming after him. 
Jesus was that man coming after John, who was preferred before 
him ; for he was (chosen to be) before him, and is before him (in 
" the gift of God)." 

Sixthly. " A body hast thou prepared me, " does not mean 
either Mary's body, nor Jesus' personal body. The prepared 
body was the body composed of those who received him — " For 
his body's sake, which is the Church, " — Col. 1, 26. The 
Gentiles should be fellow-heirs of the same body, for the per- 
fecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edify- 
ing of the body of Christ ; the whole body fitly joined together. 
Saviour of the body — Eph. iii, 6 ; iv, 12, 16 ; v, 23. But now hath 
God set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath 
pleased him. There is no schism in the body, but the members 
should have the same care one for another. Now ye are the body 
of Christ (which God has prepared for him, for the indwelling 
of his holy spirit) and the members in particular. — 1 Cor. xii, 
25, 27. 

Seventhly. The first man is of the earth, earthy ; the second 
man is the Lord from heaven. — I. Cor. xv, 47. It will be 
perceived that it is man spoken of as being the Lord from 
Heaven — not the supreme, nor some foreign spirit, but the 
second man — the spiritual man Christ Jesus, in contra- 
distinction to the first earthly man Adam. This spiritual man 
Was Lord in the finite, dependent, and subordinate sense. To 
come from, or go to heaven or hell, has no respect to altitude, 
nor latitude. To ascend into heaven is to rise, as Christ did, 
above earthly things and conditions. To descend to hell is to 



A Spiritual and Natural Reconciliation. 73 



sink into evil habits and practices, the bottomless pit of self- 
sought pleasures, that render us miserable. Thus our hell or 
heaven is made within us. To be sent from God or heaven, is to 
be commissioned or appointed by Him to communicate His will 
or heavenly tidings to man. " As is the heavenly, such also are 
they that are heavenly. " 

Eighthly. " If David then called him Lord, how is he his 
son % " — Matt, xxii, 45. The reason the Pharisees could not 
answer, was because they were carnal men, and knew nothing 
about the things of the spirit. The learned of this day seem to 
be equally in the dark with the Pharisee — " carnal and sold 
under sin" of their own confessing. ~No man in "that crowd" 
was able to answer him ; but had one said: " Thou art David's 
son by generation, but the son of God and David's Lord by 
regeneration, " Jesus would certainly have responded — thou 
hast answered truly. 

Ninthly. " I am the root and offspring of David. " — Rev. 
xxii, 16. This, as with all the rest we have quoted, fails to 
convey to my mind an idea of the Godship of Christ or his 
pre-existence. It is thought that Christ could not have been the 
root of David without preceding him. He could not have been 
the offspring of David without succeeding him. This proves at 
once that Christ was not the Supreme. It is impossible that the 
Supreme could have been the offspring of David, in any sense. 
He, who is infinite in every thing and finite in nothing, and to 
whom nothing can be added, and from whom nothing can be 
subtracted. But the text is easily reconciled in both its parts. 
Christ preceded David in the spiritual order ; He succeeded in 
the natural order. He was therefore the root of David by 
regeneration, and the offspring of David by generation. In 
accordance with this the Prophet says : " And there shall come 
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out 
of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the 
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and 
might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and 
shall make him quick of understanding. " — Isa. xi, 1 to 6. 
Thus we must perceive it could not have been the Supreme who 
had the fear of himself resting upon himself in order to make 
himself quick of understanding. Also, the coming of Christ, 
this Branch, from the root of Jesse, makes his pre-existence im 
possible. " Why speakest thou, 0 Israel ? Hast thou not known 
10 



Scripture Analysis. 



that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the 
earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? He giveth power to the 
faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. 
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, but they that wait 
upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up 
with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary, and they 
shall walk and not faint. " 



PRE -EXISTENCE AND GODSHIP OF CHKXST. 



To the unprejudiced and unbiased mind, the further prosecu- 
tion of the subject of the Godship and pre-existence of Christ 
must seem supererogatory — a waste of time and* unnecessary trial 
of their patience. To all such, nothing further can be necessary. 
But to those who have had these false ideas ground down deeply 
into their very souls by a hireling priesthood, from early infancy 
to old age, it seems something more should be said ; for it ap- 
pears, that so long as one single text of scripture remains unex- 
plained, they will still fall behind that, as an impregnable rampart, 
which truth dare not assail, forgetting that they have already 
yielded their strongest fortifications, and that it is folly to still 
try to save themselves behind their weaker ones. So firmly fixed 
has been the idea that Christ Jesus was super-human, and hence 
not a practical example for mere mortal man, that, after yielding 
points and principles which destroy their stereotyped but false 
notions of Him, they still remain obstinate, and will not yield 
until they are left without argument, or, so long as they can find 
in Holy Writ one single prop to sustain their confessedly false 
position. 

I introduce to your notice all those texts of scripture which are 
claimed to support the false dogma of the Godship and pre-exist- 
ence of Christ. 

I. It is said, in order to prove the eternity and Godship of 
Christ, that He was a " Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
world." Rev. xiii, 8. If this has reference to a pre-existent spirit 
or angel, we have no knowledge of such spirit or angel having 
been slain, and if such spirit had been anointed the Lord's Christ, 
and was slain, this slaying must have been the work of God, 
which is neither sensible nor probable ; and if it be further con- 
tended that such Christ was God Himself, and was slain, God 
then must have committed suicide ! To such absurd conclusions 
do wrong positions lead us. If it has reference to Christ — " the 
man, Christ Jesus" — it will not be contended that he was slain 
before Christ Jesus came into existence ; hence it must either 



76 



Pre-Existence and Godship of Christ. 



have been prospective, or reference had to the New World, not 
the old ; in which case the sentence must contain an ellipsis, to 
be supplied thus : A lamb slain from the foundation of the (new) 
— or, as elsewhere expressed, he/ore the foundation of the world 
(was completed), which foundation was not completed previous 
to His second appearing. 

II. " J esus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." 
Heb. xiii, 8. It is supposed that the apostle here affirms the im- 
mutability, and consequently the Godship of Christ. By reading 
the context, it will be readily discovered that it was only His con- 
stancy, or fixedness of purpose, and unwavering devotion to the 
will of His Father. He sets before them this virtue for their im- 
itation : " Be not carried about by divers strange doctrines ; for 
it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace." — 
Heb. xiii, 9. As to fixedness of purpose, constancy and unflinch- 
ing integrity and adherence to truth, His immutability is not de- 
nied ; nor can the same be denied of other good men and women 
who reside in His new Heavens ; for, " Herein is our love made 
perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment ; be- 
cause as He is, so are we in this world" — 1 John iv, 17. 

III. " Where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them." — Matt, xviii, 20. It is sup- 
posed by this that Christ attached to Himself the attribute of om- 
nipresence. This can the most readily be explained by reference 
to other texts. Paul says : " For I, verily, absent in body, am 
present in spirit, having judged already as though I were present " 
(in body). — I Cor. v, 3. " For though I am- absent in the flesh, 
yet I am with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, 
and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." — Col. ii, 5. So, 
then, if the former proves the ubiquity of Christ, the latter proves 
the same of Paul. What is true of one is true of the other. 

IY. Omniscience is thought to be ascribed to Christ by the 
apostle where he says : " In whom are hid all the treasures of 
wisdom and knowledge." — Col. ii, 3. In turning to the text, 
we find it not only applicable to Christ, but God is included. 
Verse 2 reads: "That their hearts might be comforted, being 
knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of 
understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God 
and of the Father, and of Christ ; in whom (God and Christ) are 
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 

But if it be contended that it only has reference to Christ, I 



Alpha and Omega. 



77 



would then cite you to what the apostle says to the Romans : " I 
myself am also persuaded that ye are also filled with all knowl- 
edge" — Rom. xv, 14. Again : " I thank my God always on 
your behalf, that in every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all 
utterance and in all knowledge" — I Cor. i, 4, 5. What is proved 
for one is proved for the other. If the former gives to Christ 
the attribute of omniscience, it gives the same to both Romans 
and Corinthians. Besides, Christ denies the possession of this 
attribute, by telling us that there were many things He did not 
know. 

Y. " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, 
said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, 
the Almighty." — Rev. i, 8. This is either willfully or ignorantly 
referred to Jesus Christ, who, it is said, declares He is the Al- 
mighty. But, as the text itself says, it is the Lord that speaks, 
we need not refer it to another. It is admitted, that verses 16, 
17, and 18, refer to Christ — "A sharp, two-edged sword (of 
truth) goes out of His mouth," etc., and if He is first and last, it 
must refer to the new creation, of which He is first and last ' as, 
also, " the author and finisher of our faith." And if "He that 
now liveth was dead " (verse 18), it cannot refer to the Almighty, 
of whom it cannot be said He was ever dead in any sense of the 
term. 

YI. I have heretofore commented on and explained the first 
chapter of Hebrews and Colossians, where it speaks of God mak- 
ing the world by Christ, etc., but I did not notice the eighth 
verse of Hebrews : I. " But unto the son He saith : Thy throne, 
O God, is forever and ever ; a scepter of righteousness is the 
scepter of thy kingdom." The ninth verse shows that the Godship 
spoken of is in the subordinate sense : " Thou hast loved right- 
eousness and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath 
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." It is 
easily perceived here that there was a God above Christ that 
anointed Him, and if Christ was the Almighty, or some high cre- 
ated spirit, it would be a question of some importance to learn 
who His fellows were, above whom He was anointed. 

YIL " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his 
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, 
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." — Isa. ix, 6. It 
will be perceived that it was a child and son to whom these titles 
were to be given. A son — somebody's son — was to be called 



78 PllE-ExiSTENCE AND GoDSHIP OF CHRIST. 



the Mighty God, etc. This prophecy has been fulfilled to the 
letter ; for the " Son of Man," Christ Jesus, has not only been 
called the Mighty God, but many have gone so far as to call Him 
the Almighty God ! I need only further remark, that anybody's 
son having been called, or being called the Mighty or Almighty, 
does not make him such, in our sense of these terms. There is 
but one Almighty. Moses and others were called God — even 
magistrates were called Gods. Again : The prophet Jeremiah, 
speaking of the Son, says: "In his days, Judah shall be saved, 
and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the name whereby He 
shall be called : the Lord our righteousness." — Jer. xxiii, 6. 
Also, the same prophet, doubtless referring to the second appear- 
ing of Christ in the female, says : " This is the name wherewith 
she shall be called: the Lord our righteousness." — Jer. xxxiii, 16. 
If the first proves the Son to be the Almighty God, the latter 
proves as much for the Daughter ; but it does not prove this of 
either. " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." — Mark, 
xii, 29. 

VIII. " Let this mind be in you, also which was in Christ 
Jesus ; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to 
be equal with God." — Phil, ii, 5, 6. The question which arises 
here, is : "What mind was it that was in Christ which Paul wished 
also to be in the Philippians 1 ? According to the text it was evi- 
dently this : i; To think it not robbery to be equal with God." 
He says Christ thought so and wishes and advises them to be of 
the same mind. If to be of this mind made Christ God, the same 
mind made God of the Philippians. This is only a different form 
of expressing the same idea which Christ Himself expressed — that 
He " was one with the Father, and the disciples one with Him," 
so that those who are one, in and for any purpose, are in that 
purpose in a certain sense equal. Christ more clearly expressed 
it than Paul, though both evidently meant the same thing, as 
Paul was citing Christ as their example in all things. Hence it 
was no robbery for the faithful to consider themselves equal with 
Christ, nor Christ with God, in the sense in which they were 
one — "God being in them all to will and to do;" further, who 
being in the form of (or conformed to) God, the faithful being 
also in the form of (or conformed to) Christ, to God. Nothing 
mysterious about it. Again : " Being found in fashion as a man 
(whilst He was in the form of God), He humbled Himself, and 
became obedient unto death ; wherefore (in consequence of this 



Divine Essence. 



79 



obedience), God hath highly exalted Him, etc., that every tongue 
shall confess that J esus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father; wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed 
(as Christ did), work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 
for it is God that wo?'keth in you both (Christ and you), to will 
and to do for His good pleasure." — Phil, ii, 8-14. By what has 
been said, it is easily seen in what the equality consisted. Whom 
God commissions, what he does, God does, in which they are 
equal without robbery. " The Father in me and I in you" — all 
one. Adam Clarke, Tillotson, Winston, and others deny the 
present rendering, making it appear that Christ did not arrogate 
to Himself to be equal with God ; but I feel no necessity of avail- 
ing myself of the advantage of their rendering. 

IX. u He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." — John 
xiv, 9. Jesus did not expect Philip to understand that He was 
both the Son and the Father, personally, nor that He was the 
Father of the Son ; but that He manifested the attributes and 
fatherly character of God, which they could see. Whosoever 
sees the attributes of God, sees God. Jesus manifested these 
attributes ; whosoever therefore saw Him, saw God. Hence Jesus 
told the truth in saying " He that seeth me seeth the Father." 

X. " In him (Christ) dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily." — Col. ii, 9. The essential signification of the term God- 
head is " Divine nature or essence" That this dwelt in Jesus 
none will be inclined to deny ; but it does not make Him the 
Supreme. This same essence is in all true Christians. 2 Pet. i, 4. 

XL " God manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen 
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, 
received up into glory." — 1st Tim. iii, 16. This text is also 
doubted, and has other renderings ; but I will only say it cannot 
be denied that God was manifested in the flesh (of the man Christ 
Jesus who was), justified in the spirit, preached to the Gentiles, 
believed on in the world, and received up into glory. 

XII. "Yet Michael, the Arch-angel, when contending with 
the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, he durst not 
bring a railing accusation," etc. Jude, 9. 

If there are any who think that this Michael, to whom Jude 
referred his brethren, was a pre-existent, spiritual Christ, who was 
going about in the wilderness incognito and there met with the 
devil, the great enemy of God, when a contention arose between 
them about the corpse of Moses, I would suggest that they had 



80 



Pre-Existence and Godship of Christ. 



not found the true exegesis. When we turn to Deuteronomy, 
we find an account of the death of Moses, and his burial, in the 
land of Moab, over against Beth-peor, and the people mourning 
about it ; but we find no account of the contention spoken of by 
Jude. The place of his sepulchre was kept secret, but those who 
buried him must have known where the remains were interred, 
and if they were secreted from the multitude, it was, of course, 
by order of his successor, Joshua, who was the one that ruled in 
the matter. 

The idea is extremely ludicrous to imagine that a foreign angel, 
Michael, wrested the corpse from the people, and another foreign, 
invisible angel, seeing it, comes in on the side of the people to 
restore it to them, when a contention ensued between these foreign 
invisibles in "the woods," somewhere in the land of Moab. I 
cannot close in with such literalization of the words of Jude. 
He was evidently speaking to them, as he says, of things they 
had known, and cited Michael's conduct, under the most trying 
circumstances, as an example for their imitation. 

But the corpse of Moses was not the body referred to by Jude. 
That corpse could not be called the body of Moses after he had 
put it off, any more than any other lump of clay. The body of 
Moses spoken of, was that which was instituted and made under 
the Mosaic law. Here, then, is where the contention existed. 
Christ himself arose out of the body of Moses, and Christ's body, 
or Church, was formed out of it, which was an all-sufficient cause 
to create a contention between him and the devil in the Pharisees, 
or devilish Pharisees ; and that such disputation as spoken of did 
exist, both Jude and those whom he addressed very well knew, 
and if Christ is to be understood as meant by the term Michael, 
it must have been the anointed Jesus to whom Jude pointed them 
for an example. No mystery about it ; no pre-existent Christ ; 
no unoriginated devil, sub rosa. 

XIII. " Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." 
It must not be forgotten, that these expressions have reference to 
the new world that was made by Christ. Notice Timothy : 
" According as He hath chosen us before the foundation of the 
world."— 2 Tim. ii, 9. "What the text proves for the me that 
was loved, it also proves for us that were chosen. Further : " God 
hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath 
appointed heir of all things; by whom also He made the (new) 
worlds." — Hebrews, i, 2. It may be thought this cannot refer to 



Worship. 



81 



the new world without conflicting with verses 10 and 11 : " And 
thou Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, 
and the heavens are the work of thy hands ; they shall perish but 
thou remainest ; and they shall wax old as doth a garment, and as 
a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed," 
etc. Whether we consider that the new heavens in the last days, 
in verse 2, and that which the Lord made in the beginning ', verse 
10, were the same or not, I see no conflict, for the new heavens 
of the first appearing of Christ did perish and pass away as pre- 
dicted. The same may be said of the old heavens ; they also 
waxed old as a garment, and passed away from all who entered 
the new heavens. 

XIY. Paul says: "Jesus was made a little lower than the 
angels" (as the first man Adam was). I am asked: "If Jesus 
was made lower than the angels, can He be the person of whom it 
was said : ' When He bringeth His first begotten into the world, 
let all the angels of God worship Him ? ' this must, after all, be 
God Himself, as He only is to be worshiped." If this is the pivot 
on which the question turns, the claim to a " pre-existent spirit 
Christ " is destroyed ; but reference is had to neither. The term 
worship is used in a modified sense. According to Webster, " to 
respect ; to honor ; to treat with civil reverence," is to worship. 
Hence the anointed Jesus was the man to be thus respected by 
angels ; for He being made, as we were, a little lower than the 
angels, " yet for the suffering of death (of the carnal nature), He 
was crowned with glory and honor;" (v. 2, 9), and thus, being 
made so much better than the angels, He by inheritance obtained 
a more excellent name than they. — (Heb. i, 4.) 

" Therefore when He, the first begotten, was brought forth 
(born out of a sinful nature) into the (new) world" or order, 
"then let the angels of God respect Him." Thus it was, the 
anointed man Jesus became an object of veneration to the angels, 
by virtue of His own good works. No being who is higher than 
another by virtue of his or her creation can be, for that reason, 
an object of veneration ; because they merit neither honor nor 
dishonor for that which they could not avoid. The old saw, 
" pretty is, as pretty does," will hold good in things spiritual as 
well as natural. 

XT. It is truly affirmed, that Christ, the second Adam, was 
a " quickening Spirit." I am asked : Was this Jesus ? I answer : 
Most certainly, the anointed Jesus ; but flesh, blood and bones 
11 



82 Pre-Existence and Godship of Christ. 



were not Jesus, any more than such are the real person of any one 
of us. Jesus was inside of all that. The hands, the eyes, the 
brain, and organs of speech were the manif esters of the anointed 
Jesus, or Christ. The commissioned, the anointed, the quickened 
Jesus was the manifested and the "quickening Spirit" It 
would be just as pertinent to ask in relation to the first man who 
" became a living soul : " was that Adam ? We can, with the 
same facility of reasoning, call Jesus a " quickening spirit," as we 
can call Adam a " living soul." Again : If the second Adam, 
whom we say was the quickening spirit, was created before the 
old world or visible universe, when was the first Adam created ? 
Or was the^As^ Adam created after the second ? If so, he whom 
we call the first Adam and type of the second Adam must have 
been created after the antitype, the print made before the type ! 
the second created oefore the first ! ! Lord Bacon himself, with all 
his metaphysical subtlety, could not reconcile this as a paradox. 
But after all, this quickening spirit was a man — " the man Christ 
Jesus " and not the Supreme, nor a foreign pre-existent spirit. 
Thus, it seems to me, we cannot so sufficiently blind our eyes to 
truth as not to see the absolute impossibility of reconciling the 
Godship and pre-existent theory of Christ either with the Scrip- 
tures or with reason. 

But further : If Christ was God supreme, or pre-existed with 
God, and was created before the first earthly Adam, it is impos- 
sible that He should be the second Adam, or second to Adam in 
any sense. He, being a pure spirit, cannot be second on this 
point ; and, being first in point of time, it is therefore impossible 
that He should be second in any sense. This being admitted, He 
cannot be the antitype of any person or thing. Thus not only 
would the typeship of Adam be destroyed, but the typeship of the 
thousand other things that the professing world claim as types of 
Christ would be annihilated, seeing He existed with God anterior 
to them all. Thus do the priesthood by adhering to this absurd 
position, like children, make utter shipwreck of their castle of 
cobs, leaving it strewn around in hopeless confusion. 

XVI. I am asked: If Jesus, the " carpenter's son," was the 
Christ of the first gospel dispensation, by what species of meta- 
morphosis or metempsychosis do we make Ann Lee Mis second 
appearing ; seeing He was man and she was a woman ? how could 
Me thus reappear, without undergoing a generic transformation? 
I answer : He reappeared in her Godly life and searching power ; 



Christ in the Female. 



83 



in her self-denial ; in her humiliation ; in her willingly suffering 
afflictions and persecutions ; in her patience ; in her wisdom ; in 
her long sufferings ; in her deep, intense, and agonizing labors of 
soul, night and day, for mankind ; in her renunciation of, and 
overcoming the world, as He (Jesus) did ; finally, in all the fruits 
shown forth by Jesus in His anointed capacity, did He reappear in 
the anointed Ann. You talk of miracles. We need not speak 
of small things ; but herein, indeed, has the " woman compassed 
the man," leaving behind her a standing miracle in the eyes of 
the world, of far greater magnitude than any thing wrought by 
the Saviour during His sojourn on earth, or by His immediate 
followers; and that is the existence of a number of organized 
and established societies or churches of her faithful followers, 
dwelling together in harmony, and living the spiritual life of 
Christ, around which all may cluster, and into which all who are 
willing to forsake the world for eternal life may come, of every 
nation, kindred, and tongue. 

It would be just as proper to say that Elias did not come the 
second time; therefore John the Baptist was not that prophet — 
was not Elias — as to say Jesus did not reappear. Jesus Himself 
settled this matter. He said : " This is Elias that was to come." 
Thus we see it was not necessary for the same flesh and bones, nor 
the same person to come, in order for Elias to reappear ; but 
another person to come in his spirit, power, and gift ; and this 
truly was the case (though the whole world may sneer) with our 
loved Mother Ann Lee. 

If Jesus the Christ, or Ann Christ had been created on a higher 
plane, or scale of existence, than tEe~rest of the human family, it 
would have been decidedly disadvantageous to them. If Jesus 
Christ had overcome, by virtue of a higher creation, every one of 
His followers who arose from a lower estate, male or female, 
deserves greater adoration than He, and He would himself bend 
the knee in worshipful homage and respect to them, because they 
overcame with less advantages than He enjoyed. But this is not 
the case. Jesus Christ, that blessed man and Son of God, was 
the pioneer in this glorious work ; who, by constantly and un- 
flinchingly obeying the light of God, unfolded within His con- 
sciousness, arose from our lost estate, thereby setting a practical 
example for all men ; and Ann Lee, the blessed and honored 
daughter of God, was the pioneer in His second appearing — the 
first woman — the first person — that overcame, in the second 



84 



Pee-Existence and Godship of Christ. 



manifestation, and arose, as did Jesus, out of the lost condition 
of man ; thus setting a practical example for all women. Thus 
are the two foundation pillars established, to which the types 
refer, as I shall, in subsequent discourses, clearly set forth to you. 
These, the parents, the Father and Mother, in God's new creation, 
are now with their children " co-workers together with God " for 
the salvation and redemption of the world. 

One thing is certain : this is either true or it is false ; if it is 
true there is nothing in the world so important and so necessary 
that you should know ; if it is false, then a falsehood has accom- 
plished more than all the truths and philosophy of the world have 
been able to do from Adam to the present day. I do most con- 
scientiously beg you to look this thing in the face ; for if it is a 
delusion, think what amount of delusion it would take to get any 
to forsake the pleasures of sense and lead a Godly life, and how 
much it would take to get them to obey even what light they 
already have given them ! Do you not continually " resist the 
holy spirit? As your fathers did so do ye." — Acts vii, 51. 

I speak unto all as unto wise men ; as men of deep research, of 
knowledge, of understanding. I make the appeal to all as phil- 
osophers, as biblicists, and as reasonable men — ■ as men and women 
of broad, comprehensive powers of mind — as candid, and as 
honest men and women. I earnestly repeat it and entreat of all 
not to cast it behind as unworthy of serious thought, saying it is 
only a figment of the fancy of some dreaming idiot or fanatic 
set of monks or nuns or superstitious bigots. 

Christ has either made " His second appearing without sin unto 
salvation" — Heb. ix, 28 — or He has not. If He has, those to 
whom, and in whom, He has appeared, are saved, as He was, from 
the sins and lost estate of the world. If He has not, then none 
are so saved. Do you call this a superstitious illusion ? If so, I 
would ask : What amount of superstition can make any of us 
forsake a life of animal pleasure and lead the life of Christ? 
What amount of bigotry would make us adhere to it ? To men 
and women of candor I solemnly appeal, and ask : If in the per- 
son of any one, the fruits and essential characteristics that accom-, 
panied Jesus Christ, have appeared, is this not as much and as 
really the second appearance of Christ, as was John the Baptist 
the reappearance of Elias ? No man of sense and candor will say 
not. The mission of Elias was to turn the hearts of the children 
to the fathers, and to the observance of the broken law of Moses. 



The Christ Spirit Kevived. 



85 



John the Baptist was the same ; hence Jesus said he was that 
Elias. Jesus Christ's mission, as I have heretofore shown, and 
will yet more fully show, was to call mankind from the rudimental 
to a higher life — from the natural, carnal, selfish, partial, to the 
spiritual, unselfish, universal, and Godlike — leading the way Him- 
self, in His practical life, from all self indulgence and pleasure, to 
abnegations, saying to the world, "follow me." This work and 
life fell away as predicted, and the world remained without Christ 
for more than twelve hundred years, when, lo ! it was revived 
and exhibited a second time by a woman — and that woman's 
name was Ann Lee. 

If the properties and qualities and life of Christ were mani- 
fested by her out from the triple darkness that enveloped the 
world, who, I ask, with any pretension to fairness and reason, can 
hold up their heads and assert that this was not as much and as 
really the reappearance of Christ as was John the Baptist the 
reappearance of Elias? I feel sure no reasonable person can or 
will deny it. Then those who go with me thus far are bound to 
do one of two things — either to prove that these fruits did not 
appear and were not manifested by Ann Lee, or else confess that 
Christ has appeared the second time, as promised, " without sin 
unto salvation." 

We testify to the world boldly that these fruits did appear in 
her, and that the fruition of all her hopes and expectations is 
being realized in her true and faithful followers. I wish it to be 
especially noticed that I am not asking any to believe a mystery. 
I am not running into other spheres beyond the clouds and 
wandering among the stars to fix the sense on some chimera or 
plausible hypothesis. I ask no one to believe a mystery. I wish 
not to fix attention on the regal splendor of some topless throne 
in Jupiter; but rather to draw the mind back to the heart, to 
God in the soul, and the demands of Christ upon our daily life, 
and realize that the " kingdom of heaven [or of hell] is within," 
as we make it by our own action in this sublunary sphere. 

"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day 
when I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them, as a man 
spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and 
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that 
serveth God, and him that serveth Him not." — Mai. iii, 17, 18. 

" Hear, O Israel ; the Lord hath a controversy with the inhab- 
itants of the land, because there is no truth nor mercy therein. 



S6 



Pre-Existence and Godshd? of Christ. 



By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing 
adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore 
shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein lan- 
guish, with the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven."' — 
Hos. vi, 1, 2, 3. 

Hear then, O earth ! (Ye lions of the forest in the wilderness of 
sin), and ye eagles that cleave the clouds (ye great ones of the 
earth), sheath your bloody talons and draw near to Zion and 
receive ye the spirit of the Lamb and the Dove, or the Lamb and 
the B 'ride, and permit a "little child" to lead you into the king- 
dom of your Heavenly Father and Mother. 



CHRIST THE SON OF GOD. 



If my manner of speech is offensive to the refined tastes of the 
more cultivated part of society, I must beg charity, as I am but a 
" plain, blunt man," and am not able to convey my ideas with 
that mellifluous euphony and oily sweetness to which some may 
have been accustomed to listen. To present understandable truth, 
unvarnished, being my main object, I cannot take time to polish 
phrases, were I able to do so, although I should be happy to 
please all. Innumerable falsehoods are covered by much learning 
and a finely wrought phraseology, of which Locke thus discourses : 
" All artificial and figurative applications of words that eloquence 
hath invented are for nothing else but to insinuate wrong ideas, 
move the passions, and thereby mislead the judgment. It is 
evident how much men love to deceive and be deceived, since 
rhetoric, that powerful instrument of error and deceit, has its 
established professors. * * It is to fence against the entangle- 
ments of equivocal words and the great art of sophistry that lie 
in them, that distinctions have been multiplied, and their use 
thought so necessary. * * But it is not the right way to 
knowledge to hunt after and fill the head with abundance of arti- 
ficial and scholastic distinction. * * For in things crumbled 
into dust, it is in vain to affect or pretend order, or expect clear- 
ness. * * * "Words being intended for signs of my ideas to 
make them known to others, it is plain cheat and abuse when I 
make them stand sometimes for one thing, and sometimes for 
another ; the willful doing whereof can be imputed to nothing 
but great folly or greater dishonesty. * * * They who 
would advance in knowledge, and not deceive themselves with a 
little articulated air, should lay down this as a fundamental rule : 
not to take words for things, nor suppose them to stand for real 
entities. * * When men have clear conceptions, they can, if 
they are ever so obtuse and abstracted, explain them and the 
terms they use for them. If they cannot give us the ideas their 
words stand for, it is clear they have none." 



88 



Christ the Son of God. 



It seems to me that nothing can be more true than these words 
of the pious philosopher. Who has not noticed in forensic 
debates, where the opposing parties were of equal intellectual 
endowment, that by their eloquence or rhetorical nourish of 
words they would, in turn, carry the minds of the audience from 
side to side like a leaf tossed in the wind, and not unfrequently 
so conceal the truth as to entirely exculpate the wicked and pun- 
ish the innocent '? " Crucify him, crucify him." It is equally 
disastrous in theological or religious controversy, even when both 
parties conscientiously believe they are defending the true faith ; 
but some have even gone so far in their blind zeal as to think it 
justifiable even to tell willful falsehoods in defense of the faith ; 
forgetting that " God does not require men to misuse their facul- 
ties for Him, nor to lie to others nor themselves for His sake." 
To see the truth of this, it is only necessary to listen to the 
debates and discourses of the advocates of the thousand different 
creeds ; and when you take up their books and analyze the sen- 
tences and give to their words fixed and determined significations, 
you will find them to cross their tracks as often as Reynard does 
when pursued by the hunter. Hence, as he says, it is a cheat and 
abuse, when, in the same discourse, we make a word have two 
different meanings in order to carry a point. Wherefore all men 
should adopt this fundamental rule : not to take words for entities 
until we have clear ideas of the entities themselves. This rule 
being adopted, any one can give the ideas their words stand for. 
But this is not adhered to by the professing world ; they have 
their creed — the creed must he supported at every hazard — and 
teachers of each sect commence torturing what they claim to be 
God's word into their support, until there is no end to the zig- 
zagging and abuse of our mother tongue. They write books, and 
when they find their own doctrines do not harmonize, they 
straightway tell you not to scrutinize its parts, but to look at the 
spirit of it, get the general drift, and take it as whole — that is, 
swallow truth and falsehood all together. A late Rev. author, of 
Xew York city, has written a large book to prove that God was 
in Christ and out of himself, and that God was outside of the 
visible universe, " operating on the chain of cause and effect," as 
it were, rolling up planets and tossing them around like the 
school-boy does his ball ! And still this same author adheres to 
the idea of the infinity and omnipresence of Deity ( ! ) and wishes 
us to look at his book as a whole, just as though the whole were 



Illustrations. 



89 



not made of parts. If the pwrts will not connect and hang 
together, the whole will not. If we cannot depend upon the 
parts that make the whole, how can we depend upon the whole f 
It is the very pith and essence of weakness and dishonesty to try 
to cover up falsehood in this way. What, then, is to be done, we 
ask, seeing there are no perfect books? I answer : take only the 
good parts, such as will connect, and make a craft of that, as best 
we can. The inadhesive parts and unsound planks and timbers 
are of no advantage to the bark. Let me illustrate : 

I engage a man to build for me a ship in which I expect to 
cross the ocean. He builds it, and finishes it with a handsome 
exterior. I send a scientific man to examine it, to ascertain if it 
is sea-worthy. When he arrives and wishes to look at its parts, 
the mechanic, knowing there are faulty pieces or joints, says, you 
must not examine its parts, but take it as a whole. This man 
would be just as consistent as the one who would ask you to take 
his book as a whole without examining its parts. It would be 
the duty of the man sent to examine to know that all the timbers 
were sound and well put together even though he had to cut 
through the paint and varnish for that purpose ; else I could not 
trust myself aboard for the voyage. If rotten timbers were found, 
they would have to be taken out, and sound ones replaced, and all 
unnecessary pieces removed ; then I could trust the whole ship, 
because the parts were good. I should consider myself as dis- 
honest as the ship-builder, were I to advise any one to take these 
discourses as a whole without scrutinizing their parts, and if one 
part conflicts with another part set it aside as worthless. 

I was early taught to cultivate a veneration and love for truth 
more than love for my mother ; so that now I feel in a measure 
indifferent to any position, however pleasing and plausible it may 
appear, which admits of a doubt. Perhaps I am ultra ; if so, it is 
consoling to know that such ultraism cannot have a very danger- 
ous tendency. In my humble opinion it would be well if this 
were the condition of every one — all the while feeling within 
ourselves 

"If I am right thy grace impart 
Still in the right to stay ; 
If I am wrong, 0 teach my heart 
To find that better way." 

I have thus far endeavored to keep my promise, to use the 
same word steadily to represent the same idea or object, so that 
12 



90 



Christ the Son of God. 



none may be misled in regard to my position. But, alas ! for 
poor humanity. It is painfully evident that some do not wish to 
hear the plain truth uttered, because it comes as a two-edged 
sword, not only into their false systems, but also against their car- 
nal and ungodly lives. Such ones prefer the pleasures of sense 
to their union with God, or the spirits of " just men made per- 
fect," to whom the words of the Apostle Paul will apply : " They 
are more the lovers of pleasure than the lovers of God, having 
the form of Godliness but denying the power." — 2 Tim. iii, 4. 
They even fearfully fill the poet's picture : 

' ISTow conscience chills them, and now passion burns, 

And atheism and religion take their turns; 
Are very heathens in the carnal part, 

Yet still are good, sound Christians at the heart." 

But knowing as I do, that such so-called Christians will not 
yield their false positions as long as they can find in Holy "Writ 
one prop to sustain them, I must return to the further elucidation 
of the Scriptures, and show up some of the inconsistencies and 
incongruities of their teachers. 

It is said that Christ is declared to be " the resurrection and 
the life," and if Ann Lee has manifested His second coming is she 
also the resurrection and the life ? Most certainly ; and so are all 
who are resurrected by coming into and living the life of Christ. 
To come into the resurrection, is to come into the life of Christ. 
To be resurrected is to be raised from spiritual death into spiritual 
life. To come then into Christ in His second appearing is a resur- 
rection as effectual as it was in His first appearing. Next, I am 
asked if Christ did not have an advent in the Adamic dispensa- 
tion through Seth, Enoch, and Noah, and in the Law dispensation 
through Abraham, Moses, and Joshua, and afterward through 
Jesus? I reply : If Christ was a pre-existent spirit, and did make 
those advents, what consistency is there in calling the one through 
Jesus His first appearing ? ! 

The simple truth is this : Christ is not a foreign spirit, but the 
" Lord's Anointed." Jesus was pre-eminently the Christ, because 
He was anointed and appointed to lead in the work of the regen- 
eration and salvation of the human race. Other anointed persons, 
appointees and successors in Christ's church, imbued or clothed 
with the same powers, are His Vicegerents. 

When Christ was about to leave the earth, He said to His dis- 
ciples : " Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more, but 



Elements of Christianity. 



91 



ye see me." — John xiv, 19. I am asked, if the man Jesus was the 
Christ, how is it that He could be seen by His disciples and not 
by the world ? I answer : The disciples themselves saw the person 
of Jesus for some time before they saw the Christ ; that is, before 
they saw that He was the Lord's anointed. Seeing the exterior, 
and comprehending the character, mission, or office, are very dis- 
tinct ; so there were a great many worldlings in that day, who 
were even conversant with Jesus, who saw not that He was the 
Christ ; they saw only the carpenter's son, while the enlightened 
saw more — they also could perceive that He was the Lord's 
Anointed or Christ. So it ever will be. 

I am asked if there might not have been an element or essence 
from God contained in the person of Jesus, otherwise called the 
blood of Christ, which we must drink in order to have His life in 
us? or may not this have been the Christ which the disciples 
saw, that the world could not see? 

I answer, not at all : (1) This element would have to be an 
entity — an intelligent something, commissioned of God for a 
special purpose before it could be called Christ. (2) If it were 
such entity, He must be subdivided for all to drink or swallow 
Him(!) and this would destroy the entity. An element is a con- 
stituent principle, not an intelligence. There is no mystery about 
drinking the blood of Christ ; He tells us it is His word and doc- 
trine you must imbibe — " the flesh pronteth nothing, etc." The 
element which the disciples saw was this. It was His element to 
do His Father's will and not His own — and we must drink in this 
same element or else not have His life in us — live His life — " the 
blood is the life thereof." 

I have now analyzed and explained all the texts of scripture 
that have been presented to my notice which are claimed and sup- 
posed to be declarative of the Deity and pre-existence of Christ ; 
and it must be seen, that, by a fair and rational construction, they 
not only fail to yield it any support, but absolutely deny such 
hypothesis. I must now expose some of the absurdities that pro- 
fessors have been led into by striving to support this false dogma ; 
after which I will quote a few texts from a multitude which 
declare the true idea that the anointed man, Jesus, was the Christ, 
and that He was not the Supreme, but simply the Son of God by 
regeneration. 

The absurdities are many ; and yet I dislike to enumerate even 
a very small portion of them, lest I might be censured for insin- 



92 



Christ the Son of God. 



cerity, even to mention them ; for they are glaringly inconsistent. 
They are driven to such extremely absurd conclusions as these : 
That Jesus was the Son of God and also the Father of God ! that 
He was not only the Son and Father, but " He w T as very God of 
very God ! " that He was Father and Son at the same time, and 
whilst He was both the Father and Son, He was His own Father, 
making God His grandfather ! that infinite as He was, He humbled 
and contracted His being to the germ of an embryo infant, and 
was afterward born of a virgin ; and yet, the mother of Jehovah 
had to make the usual offerings for un cleanness and remain with- 
out the appointed time for purification for bringing her own 
Maker into the world ! and also that she remained a virgin there, 
after ! that God grew up from an infant of a span's length, to five 
feet ten, and then permitted some wicked men to kill Him, and 
then make this murder a necessary link in the redemption of 
man ! Thus the pious Watts has it — 

"God the mighty Maker died." 

The universe of course was left without a God while He was dead ; 
but how He was resuscitated, we are not explicitly informed. Of 
course, the least creature of life was of more force and value than 
a dead God. All this (and even this is not a tithe of what might 
be said) is not only childish, heathenish, and ludicrous, but it is 
extremely ridiculous. 

In relation to Christ as the Son, they are equally unfortunate. 
They assert that Jesus Christ was of the lineage of David, and 
that He existed before David himself ! that Christ w^as the "second 
Adam," but existed before the first Adam ; consequently the 
second was the first ! I will only add, in this connection, that the 
pre-existent theory destroys all the types of Christ, claimed to be 
such by professing Christians, from the fact that He existed prior 
to them. It will not help the matter to say He has existed before 
them as God, and subsequently as the Son of God ; for it is asserted 
He was all the time God. Besides, if He was ever the supreme 
infinite God, he could not at any time be any thing less. Such 
subterfuge would only, if possible, still the more confuse and 
complicate the doctrine. It would be adding mystery to mystery, 
and making confusion more confounded to the end of the chapter. 

All this kind of sense, or I should say, nonsense, is of heathen 
origin, and has been introduced since the falling away of the first 
Christian church, and from this source mystery on mystery has 



Jesus the Ciikist. 



93 



been introduced and adopted by the priesthood, until neither the 
learned nor the unlearned can understand or expound the faith of 
their own churches. 

I will now introduce some of the texts declarative of the simple 
and easily-understood truth that the anointed man Jesus was the 
Christ, and to whom no idea of pre-existence can be consistently 
applied : 

" Jesus saith to His disciples, whom do men say that I, the son 
of man, am f They answered, some say John the Baptist, some 
say Elias, etc." " He saith unto them whom say ye that I am?" — 
(I, the son of man, am f) " Simon Peter answered and said, 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied : 
"Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not 
revealed it unto thee (that I, Jesus, am the Christ), but my Father 
which is in heaven " (hath done it). — Matt. xvi. 13, 17. 

It will be observed that Jesus was careful to call himself the son 
of man, it would seem, in order to prevent a misunderstanding. 
Again : The high priest asked, " Art thou the Christ, the Son of 
the Blessed? Jesus answered and said, I amP Did Jesus speak 
the truth or not ? 

Again : " O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the 
prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suffered these 
things and enter into His glory ? " — Luke xxiv, 26, 66. It is only 
necessary to observe it was Christ that suffered — the anointed 
man Jesus. 

To continue : " The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messias 
cometh, which is called Christ. Jesus saith unto her, I that 
speaketh unto thee am He " (am the Christ). Could there be any 
words in the English language more to the point? less ambiguous? 
Jesus, the man, was speaking, and says to her: "lam He, the 
Christ or the Messias you are expecting to come." He did not 
say, a pre-existent foreign spirit in Him was the Christ ; but I, the 
speaker, am He. John iv, 26, and v, 42. The Samaritans said : 
" We have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the 
Christ, the Saviour of the world." Also : " Hath not the scrip- 
ture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the 
town of Bethlehem where David was ? " — John vii, 45. " We 
believe and are sure thou (Jesus) art the Christ, the Son of the 
living God." — John vi, 69. "But these things are written that 
ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." — John 
xx, 31. "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the 



94 



Christ the Son of God. 



Christ ? " — John ii, 22. Now any man, professor or profane, who 
pretends to believe the scriptures, with these plain declarations 
before him, that the man Jesus is the Christ, must be convinced 
of the falsity of the pre-existent theory. Every one knows that 
the man Jesus did not pre-exist. The son of Mary had no exist- 
ence previous to His birth ; and this man Jesus is declared emphat- 
ically to be the very Christ that was promised. So void of mystery 
is this subject that "he that runs may read, and though a fool, he 
need not err therein." But more : God hath sworn with an oath 
(to David) that of the fruit of his loins, according to the fleshy 
He would raise up Christ. Acts ii, 30. The question is, did God 
swear the truth or a lie ? Do we not all know what is meant by 
coming from the loins of a progenitor according to the flesh? 
God, not only said, but swore with an oath, that Christ should so 
come. What greater pains could the Almighty Himself have 
taken than did the spirit through the inspired one, to prevent our 
being ensnared with the lying schemes of anti-Christ, and made to 
disbelieve these plain and positive declarations of Holy Writ % 

" Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God 
hath made (as He had sworn to do) this same Jesus whom ye have 
crucified, both Lord and Christ." The Apostle Paul alleges " that 
this Jesus whom I preach, unto you is Christ." — Acts xvii, 3. 
And he further " mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, 
showing by the scriptures (i. <?., the old Testament) that Jesus 
was the Christ." — Acts xviii, 28. 

Thus, I see not how we can avoid agreeing that I have demon- 
strated from every reliable source of history, reason, and revela- 
tion, the truth of the proposition that Christ signifies the anointed : 
and that the man Jesus was that anointed, and therefore the 
Christ, which man could not be the Supreme, nor one-third of the 
Supreme ; nor could He have pre-existed before the man came into 
being ; nor was He the Christ, only prospectively, until He was 
commissioned, anointed, and appointed for the special purpose of 
opening the way of salvation and redemption to a lost world, 
which appointment did not take place previous to the baptism of 
J ohn. 

But this man Jesus was the Christ of whom the prophets 
prophesied and " angels sang," that was to come ; but He was no 
high-created being from the " pleroma " or " Christ-sphere " of 
high-created intelligences which some have imagined, and palmed 
on the world. But, thus swallowing one mystery as a truth 



Salvation's Way. 



95 



opened the way for another, and another, and in this way were 
all the host of mysteries saddled upon the church and sectarian 
world — as history, both sacred and profane, plainly indicates — a 
small portion of which I may hereafter notice. 

Not being able to detect a shadow of the false theoiy in the 
scriptures, its origin must be looked for elsewhere ; and if there 
are any who yet remain unconvinced of its falsity, I trust I shall 
be able to satisfy their most minute inquiries ; as I expect to pre- 
sent nothing but what is true and that which the common capacity 
can understand and fathom. 

There never was any thing done, either miraculously or other- 
wise, but that there was a way in which it was done ; and when 
the way is ascertained, the miracle ceases. The process of salva- 
tion is no longer a miracle, because the way to obtain it has been 
ascertained. The first mortal man like ourselves who ascertained 
it, and was successful in its accomplishment, solved the problem 
and showed that it was possible for all men', .and the first mortal 
woman who was successful solved the problem, and showed that 
it was possible for all women. The Apostle Paul said : " It be- 
hooved Christ to be made in all things like unto His brethren." — 
Heb. ii, 17. Who believes this ? I ask not the simple nor foolish ; 
but men of deepest thoughts and most critical acumen. Partic- 
ularly mark the language : " made in All things like His brethren?'' 
Acknowledge this to be true, we only need to know how the 
brethren are made in order to know how Christ was made. What 
we know of the former we know of the latter. We cannot say 
two watches are made alike in all respects if one is made of gold 
and the other of brass. Again : He was " tempted in all 
points" — not some points only, but in all points "as we are.' 
Now, then, if we know how we are tempted, we also know how 
He was tempted. He resisted and overcame the tempter, and we, 
in order to continue like Him, must also resist and overcome the 
tempter, or else be excluded from His presence. This is the 
legitimate conclusion. If no mere mortal like ourselves had 
accomplished the work of his salvation to a successful issue, the 
way would still be the great unraveled problem of the world, and 
the fact of its being done, would still be among the enigmas, 
mysteries, and improbabilities, if not the impossibilities to the 
human race. We might then in sad reality, 

"Make dust of paper, and with rainy eyes 
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth." 



D6 



Christ the Son of God. 



But, thanks to God, this is not the case ; the way lias been learned 
and the thing has been accomplished. Jesus was the first man 
and Ann Lee the first woman who were successful ; thus we have 
an example and are left without excuse. They solved this prob- 
lem for the human race. God will not save the soul of any one 
in a mysterious way. He has no " under-ground railroad." The 
way — the plan — the process that has saved one soul, will save 
any soul, and is the plan that will save all souls. The way — the 
plan — the process that will damn one soul will damn any soul; 
consequently there is only one way to be saved, and only one way 
to be damned, and both are comprised in two words, viz. : obedience, 
disobedience. Jesus Christ was Himself saved by obedience to God ; 
while disobedience would have damned Him, just the same as it 
will any soul of man. Do any say God does not speak to him ? 
Simple creatures ! He might just as well say he has no conscience ! 
To obey God in the conscience, where we are, is the first step in 
the right direction ; and if persisted in faithfully, it will lead us 
to Christ's church or body, where alone full redemption is attain- 
able, for "thither will the eagles be gathered together," — Luke 
xvii, 37 — where all will be thankful to yield their spirits to the 
guidance of the more advanced in spiritual truth, just as they 
would the intellect to the guidance of a superior intellect when in 
pursuit of scientific truth. God speaks frequently by agency — but 
at all times does he speak internally through the conscience. But 
alas ! it is too seldom regarded. " How long, saith God, will the 
scorner delight in his scorning, and fools hate knowledge ? " 

" Turn ye at my reproof ; behold I will pour out my spirit upon 
you, and make known my words unto you : I have called and ye 
have refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded ; 
but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my 
reproof." — Pr. i, 22,26. "But ye are they that forsake the 
Lord. * * Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye 
shall all bow down to the slaughter ; because when I called ye 
did not answer ; when I spake ye did not hear, but did evil 
before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." — 
Isa. lxv, 12. Thus God pleads, promises, threatens every day, 
but many disobey. Therefore, let none say that God does not 
plead with them in every act of their lives, when to hearken and 
obey would be the very salvation that Christ gained. But to 
disobey is to bring upon ourselves the very damnation which He 
escaped. 0 ! then, as you desire your union with God, or hope 



Christ the Son of God. 



97 



for heaven, or to escape the penalty of the wicked, hearken to His 
kind, affectionate, and parental voice : 

" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me ; 
for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest to your 
souls." 

13 



TYPES OF CHRIST. 



" But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- 
found the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world 
to confound the things which are mighty" — I Cor. i, 27. 

Notwithstanding the great veneration that people seem to have 
for truth, it is still a difficult pill to swallow when it interferes with 
any idol of the human heart, or crosses any cherished or loved 
opinion. Still the cry is: Let us have truth. Our object is, to 
endeavor to show that all the types and symbols of the Old Testa- 
ment scriptures have their fidfillment in the Bridegroom and 
Bride — in Christ's first and second, appearing — not such a 
Bride as some have made from Rev. xxi, 2, who give this name 
to the Church ; but a real counterpart for the Bridegroom. 

The apostle does not say that he saw the Bride coming down 
from heaven, in the form of a Church, but the " New Jerusalem 
coming down adorned as a Bride." But the Bridegroom was a 
man : the Bride must be a woman — even a woman clothed with 
the sun, and the moon under her feet. — Rev. xii, 1. 

Having mentioned the second appearing, we will quote the 
promise (Heb. ix, 28) : " So Christ was once offered to bear the 
sins of many ; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear 
the second time without sin unto salvation," we will further add 
that, in order to have a second appearance, it is not necessary that 
the same identical flesh and bones should return, neither that it 
should be the same gender. In fact it were more apropos that 
the gender should be different in order to have co-ordinate coun- 
terparts. The first, the bridegroom ; the second, the bride. This 
is well exemplified by Christ himself, who said of John the Bap- 
tist : " This is Elias that was to come." 

The second appearing consists in the reappearance of the same 
gift, spirit, power and substance, for the same purposes — to exe- 
cute and carry out the same work. John was the second coming 
of Elijah, because he came in the same gift and power of that 
prophet. And the reappearance in and manifestation by Ann 
Lee of the same spirit, testimony, life, power and wisdom which 



Mysteries Explained. 



99 



was exhibited by Christ, as much constituted His second appear- 
ing as that which constituted John the second appearance of 
Elias. This is plain. 

And now we here boldly testify that all the fruits shown forth 
by Jesus in His anointed capacity did reappear, in the anointed 
Ann, and show that she was baptized with the same spirit. Such, 
then, manifestly, was Christ's second coming. Thus are the two 
foundation pillars established, to whom the Scripture types refer, 
which we will now proceed to set before you, and compare with 
the substance they were designed to represent. 

It is said in Rev. x, 7, " That in the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel, when he should begin to sound, the mystery of 
God should be finished." To finish a mystery is to explain it, 
which is a part of the work now before us. We need not seek, 
nor have we any need to know, the precise time of the formation 
of our planet, nor the origin of primal man ; these are hidden 
from the world, and we have no revelation disclosing the secret. 
God hath revealed by Moses, recorded in Gen. i, that in the 
beginning he did thus and so, but when that beginning was, no 
man knoweth. But it is proper that man should know when the 
" old heavens and earth were created that were to pass away," 
and when " all things were to become new and all things of God." 
This can be ascertained by noticing the generations of the heavens 
and earth, treated of in the second chapter, which has special 
reference to man, and is given for our instruction. Here we may 
easily arrive at the precise time of the first called or created man 
from the primal structure, or "dust of the ground" of animal 
promiscuity. 

It is generally admitted that the first chapter treats mostly of 
the creation of the universe in six periods of time called days, and 
if it is observed that the second chapter treats of the generations 
of the earth with respect to man, we then hold the key to unlock 
the mystery, and have no difficulty with the commands given to 
man in the first chapter, and those given to the first called man 
in the second chapter, of Edenic order, with whom we very 
readily perceive was God's first covenant, called the " old 
covenant," which was the type of the new, in that, man was 
raised from a lower to a higher condition. 

This was the beginning of God's special dealings with his 
creature man. " He breathed into him the breath of (spiritual) 
life (the inspiration of lives), and he became a living soul." Here, 



100 



Types of Christ. 



it is evident, is the commencement of the types of Christ. The 
first called man was the first type, and corresponds completely 
with the second called man, Christ, who is his antitype. The 
first " a living soul ;" the second " a quickening spirit." The first 
u to multiply and replenish the earth the second to multiply and 
replenish the heavens. The first called man was the head of the 
orderly, natural, Adamic church ; the second called man was the 
head of the Spiritual church. 

Cain was the first apostate from the Adamic church, and was 
the type of Judas, the first apostate from the Spiritual Christian 
Church. The first church arose from the lower order of the 
world to that of orderly generation. The second, or spiritual, 
arose from the plane of orderly generation to that of regeneration. 
The first forsook the old, disorderly, animal world. The second 
forsook the orderly, natural world for the spiritual. The twain 
were to become one flesh in the natural order — the twain to 
become one spirit in the spiritual order — having risen above, 
and forsaken the natural, "father, mother, brother, sister, houses, 
lands, and all that pertains to that partial relation." 

Thus the types agree with their antitypes, and show clearly the 
distinction between the two orders. From our basis, it will be 
perceived that the first man Adam, who was taken from the 
pre- Adamic body to institute a new order of things, was the begin- 
ning of the " old heavens and earth that were to pass away ;" — 
having no reference whatever to this planet, being 

"into heaps of ashes turned 
When Heaven itself the wandering chariot burned," 

but to the earthly order then created, at which time all those who 
come into this order, and embraced this gospel, were " Sons and 
daughters of God." 

As Adam was raised up from among the brethren of the pre- 
Adamic body to establish the old heavens and earth, so Jesus was 
raised up from among the brethren " of the Mosaic body to estab- 
lish "the new heavens and earth." And all who embrace this 
order are the sons and daughters of God, and sing and shout for 
joy at the establishment of this new order. 

Thus far we see the types and antitypes are perfect, and as the 
first called man was a perfect type of the second called man, so 
Eve, the first called woman, was a perfect type of the second 
called woman. As the first Eve was taken out of the sleeping 



Types and Antitypes. 



101 



body of Adam — from among the disorderly flesh there — to be 
with the man Adam one flesh, so the second Eve was taken out 
of the sleeping body of the world — from among the disorderly 
flesh there — to be with Christ one spirit. Thus do the types and 
antitypes agree. 

A letter from our pen is not the antitype of the pen, hut a 
printed letter is the antitype of the metal face — their faces must 
correspond. So it is with all types and their antitypes; their 
faces must agree. Then, if one is understood, the other will be 
also. While the first Adam and Eve of the natural order were 
types of the second Adam and Eve of the spiritual order, they 
could not have been types of a pre-existent Christ nor Christ 
spirit, as this would make the type come after the antitype, which 
is impossible. 

Let us repeat, that the first man, Adam, was made of the 
ground on which pre- Adam or Adamkind stood, and was thence 
called a " living soul.'- The second was made of the ground on 
which the Mosaic body stood, and was called a " quickening 
spirit." And the first Eve was taken from the flesh of the sleep- 
ing Adamic body for a help-meet for the first Adam, and was 
called the " Mother of all (the) living ; " that is, all living the 
higher, natural life. The second Eve — Ann Lee — was taken 
from the flesh of the sleeping anti-christian body, for a helper 
for the second Adam, Christ Jesus ; and she is called the Mother 
of all living the higher, spiritual life. Thus we see what becomes 
of the "wisdom of this world," who have three male deities, 
with neither type nor anti-type. 

Such metaphorical expressions as we have noticed are very 
common. How often do spiritual leaders inquire what ground 
we stand upon ? How often cite to the " hole of the pit whence 
we were digged, and the rock whence we were hewn." The 
simple truth is, God made man out of the ground then, as He 
" digs them out of the pit and hews them out of the rock, now. 
Whoso is wise shall understand these things, and whoso is pru- 
dent shall know them," although they may confound the wisdom 
of the wise ! 

But it is said : " The Bridegroom hath the Bride," long before 
Ann Lee had existence ; and we are asked : How could she, who 
yet had no existence, fulfill the conditions ? In answer we would 
say, he had her prospectively. Such expressions are frequent in 
holy writ : " This day I have begotten thee ; " " Before Abraham 



102 



Types of Christ. 



was I am ; " but which simply means I am before what Abraham 
was. 

Joshua said the Lord had delivered the enemy into his hands, 
before he commenced the battle. Just so the Bridegroom, Jesus, 
had the Bride Ann, prospectively, but was as sure of her as 
Joshua was that he would conquer the enemy. This is true, 
although it be to the " Jews a stumbling block," and to the 
Greeks " foolishness." It may be observed that Ann Lee, of 
Manchester, England, was the first person that was baptized and 
quickened into the spiritual life of Christ, to rise out of nature's 
loss and order, to live above these, and to proclaim the higher 
life to the world. Hence she has the honor of being the Bride, 
the " Lamb's wife." Being ignorant of this fact, some have sup- 
posed that the Bride, which the Bridegroom had, was a spirit 
from some foreign world which he had in Him ; but it is time 
that the mystery of such a chimera was disposed of ; to admit 
which, would spoil the agreement of all types and their anti- 
types. 

When the indisputable truth becomes known, that Christ, in 
any age of the world, was no mysterious being, but simply a God- 
anointed, or which is the same thing, a God appointed or com- 
missioned agent for a special purpose, ail this chimerical, mys- 
terious chaff will be blown away, no more to disturb a dreaming 
world. 

Abraham and Sarah were types of Jesus and Ann ; not only 
in their obedience to the Adamic Gospel, but they were of one 
stock or race — begotten and born alike, equal as to mode of 
existence, as man and woman may be heads of a family 
" Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarah." But what did this 
hearkening typify ? It was, that, in the new covenant, the man 
should hearken to the woman ; even so it is. In the second appear- 
ing, where a " woman compassed the man," all hearkened to the 
Bride, Ann ; while, under the old covenant, the law is, " Thy 
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." 

Millions find this true to their sorrow, and see no way of relief ; 
but there is a way. To all who wish deliverance from such bond- 
age we would say : Leave the rudiment al — come up-stairs into 
the new covenant. 

Some orthodoxans tell us, in justification of the saved-by-faith 
doctrine, that Abraham's faith was " counted to him for righteous- 
ness." So it was, because it was accompanied by good ivories. 



A Full Sacrifice. 



103 



" Faith without works is dead ; " and who can be saved by a 
dead faith % They tell us also, that the offering up of the ram was 
symbolical of the sacrifice of the " Lamb slain from the foun- 
dation of the world." Now the theological student is consider- 
ably advanced when he can tell the difference between a typical 
ram and a typical lamb. Then there is some hope of him. 

If they had told us that the ram offered up was a symbol, 
that the ram that had ruled the world from Adam to Christ had 
to be slain and burned up ; they would nearer have approached 
the truth. But Sarah called Abraham her Lord, or head. So Ami 
called Jesus. Not only so, they were types in sacrificing that 
which was most dear to them, typifying, that, in the gospel of 
Christ, that which was most dear to the natural man and woman 
must be sacrificed. 

But you will say, Isaac was not sacrificed ; but the ram was 
taken in his stead. This is true, and agrees perfectly with the 
antitype. Isaac was saved, and Abraham was promised an hun- 
dred fold in the seed of Isaac. So it is now. All the Abrahams 
and Sarahs that come into the gospel of Christ must offer up their 
little Isaacs, who will thus be saved ; and they shall receive an 
" hundred fold of Isaacs and other gospel relations, and in the 
world to come eternal life." Such is the promise of Christ — the 
type and antitype complete. But the ram was put on the sacrific- 
ial altar, and was consumed with fire. This typified that the ani- 
mal passions must be sacrificed and utterly consumed by the fire 
of Christ's gospel. Could types and antitypes be more complete ? 

The rite of circumcision typified that in Christ the works of 
the flesh must be cut off. The mystery makers contend that they 
were types of Christ, because " Isaac was begotten by promise." 
Isaac was not begotten by promise. He was begotten by Abra- 
ham — " Abraham begat Isaac." There is no mystery about it. 
He and Sarah propagated children according to the law of gener- 
ation. Jesus and Ann propagated children according to the law 
of ^-generation. The first natural ; the second spiritual. Thus 
were Abraham and Sarah the types of Christ Jesus and Ann 
Lee, in being, in call and work, whose offspring are the seed of 
the " Free Woman," who are "the weak things of the world, 
whom God hath chosen to confound the things which are 
mighty." 

Moses and Zipporah were plain and perfect types of Christ in 
His first and second appearing. "We will repeat what Moses said 



104: 



Types of Christ. 



to the fathers : " A prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you of 
your brethren like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things 
whatsoever He saith." — Acts iii, 22. Some, in order to keep 
this mystery from being explained, have left or omitted the words 
" of your brethren " in their writings ; and, also, where it is said 
the " sanctifler and sanctified are all of one " the preposition of 
has been omitted, lest we should get a peep into the fact that they 
were of one stock or race, and so save one prop to the miraculous 
story — well knowing that, if they were of one stock, this would 
be wiped out. We have no apology to offer for such omissions. 

The preposition clearly shows they were of one race — the 
human. But Moses not only truthfully declared from whence 
Christ should arise, but he was an eminent type of Christ, in that 
he was called to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage. Some 
say Moses was not a perfect type of Christ — an imperfect type 
is no type at all. But Moses was a perfect type of Christ. He 
was begotten by a man, and born of a woman ; so was Jesus. He 
was raised up from among the brethren ; so was Jesus. He was 
called to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage ; Jesus was 
called to deliver them from the bondage of sin. Also Zipporah 
was a type of Ann. She was raised up from among the Sisters ; so 
was Ann. She forsook her people and followed Moses, suffering the 
toils of the wilderness, while journeying to the promised land, and 
became a Mother in Israel. So Ann Lee forsook her own people 
and followed Christ through the sufferings and toils of the wil- 
derness of this world for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake, and, 
thus conjoined to Him, became the Mother of spiritual Israel. 

Of animals and things, we may go through the good book and 
find agreement in types and symbols throughout. The "two 
cherubim covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their 
faces one toward another," were excellent types of Christ Jesus 
and Ann. They were wrought gold of beaten work ; not only 
so, but were out of one piece. So plainly does every type repre- 
sent the pure, simple truth, that the two foundation pillars, male 
and female, in whom they have their fulfillment, were alike and 
equal in all respects — no more mystery about the one than the 
other. 

The two silver trumpets, the two tables of the Covenant, the 
two olive trees, the two olive branches, the King and Queen, the 
son and daughter, etc., all have their accomplishment in Jesus 



The Known Quantity. 



105 



Christ and Ann Lee, the Bridegroom and Bride of the new cre- 
ation of God. 

We look in vain among the lower-floor churches and our 
theological seminaries to find agreement of the types with their 
antitypes. With all their learning and worldly wisdom, they only 
pile mystery on mystery ; and the further we follow them the 
more dense the fog grows, until we reach a cloud of impenetrable 
darkness. 

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- 
found the wise, and the weak things to confound the mighty." 
Thus, under the seventh-sounding angel, this mystery of God is 
finished. It would seem that enough had now been said to satisfy 
the most carping critic of the falsity of the miraculous statement, 
and of the far-fetched, foreign Christ theory. It is a rule in 
mathematics that, when there are unknown quantities to be found, 
they must be ascertained from quantities which are known. The 
same is true in logic — truths may be ascertained by reasoning a 
posteriori as well as the contrary. Types and antitypes come directly 
under this rule ; so if we know what the antitype is we may learn 
what the type is, and vice versa. Thus when we see a printed 
letter we know what the face of the type was ; or when we see a 
type's face we know what the letter will be. The question recurs : 
Have you known data ? Ans. — We have. Of types we have 
shown, in person and work. 

Of the antitypes we have Ann Lee, to whom the female types 
pointed, and in whom they have their fulfillment. She is the 
known quantity, whom anti-Christ cannot mystify. We know 
she came into being by the same law of all her typical females. 
The two must agree. So, in like manner, of types we know the 
law by which they came into being, and, from this, the law which 
brought the antitype Christ into being. There is no possibility 
of evading this conclusion. And as Elijah was a tj^pe of Christ, 
and left his mantle behind for Elisha, so it was with his antitype 
Christ, and so it continues to this day. " All power to save was 
committed to the Son, who committed the same to His successors." 

Jesus testified : " All that the Father gave me have I given 
them." And the call is now, to the whole world, of every nation, 
tongue and kindred, to come; accept Christ's terms and be saved. 
To be saved does not mean to be saved in sin, hut from sin ; and 
all its deathly and damning effects, which can only be done by for- 
saking the world, finding God's order of finite agencies, and there 
U 



106 



Types of Christ. 



confessing, forsaking, and repenting of all sin, and becoming 
" crucified to the world and the world crucified to us," and, hence- 
forward, living the life of the Redeemer. 

We purpose further to institute a comparison between the 
modes of the first and the second appearing of Christ, showing 
their similarity as well as their equality in person and commis- 
sion. But, by way of leader, will remark that, from what has 
been previously said, it must be perceived that in every succeeding 
order among men, from the first record to the present time, the 
instruments must have arisen out of a previous body by a higher 
unfolding and increased inspiration of the spirit of God; and 
hence every order has superseded the previous one. 



CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING. 



Witness, as shown, the creation or call of Adam and Eve from 
primal, animal Adamic body — the rite of marriage first institu- 
ted — and orderly generation enjoined on pain of the displeasure 
of the Creator. See this order building and establishing the first 
old heavens and earth that were to pass away, and shadowing 
forth the new. See what gospel was preached and lived, by those 
who constituted the Adamic church — Seth, Noah, and others, 
until Abraham, With whom God renewed His covenant, shadow- 
ing forth the increasing steps in the new and everlasting covenant. 

Circumcision was instituted under the old covenant, which is a 
type of what should take place in the new that of cutting off all 
the fleshly works of generation and becoming " eunuchs for the 
kingdom of heaven's sake." Advances were made in the old 
heaven gospel which shadowed forth the gospel travel in the new, 
and it was practiced and lived until Moses, when God's covenant 
was again renewed with additional sacrifices and self-denial, and 
which, being kept, brought renewed blessings. These were 
enjoined and kept by some, with little modification, until Christ, 
with whom the new covenant was made. The substance now 
appeared, and the work of forming the new heavens and earth 
was begun — the creation of the new world, which the apostle 
says truly, was made by Him, which we now enjoy with increas- 
ing light and power in His second appearing in Ann Lee. Thus 
we see what God's uniform law and order are : First the Adamic 
arose out of the dust of the pre Adamic body ; the Abraham ic out 
of the Adamic ; the Mosaic out of the Abrahamic ; and the 
Christian out of the Mosaic ; and the second appearing in Ann, 
out of the so-called Christian, which was fast asleep when she 
was taken out of that body ; and it is snoring yet 

We will now call attention to the history and biography of 
Jesus, and examine the manner of His call, to which we beg 
especial attention. It so happens that we have no reliable history 
of Him until he was about thirty years old ; precisely what kind 



108 



Christ's Second Appearing. 



of life He lived previously to that time is unknown to history and 
mankind ; nor is it necessary that we should know it ; but John the 
Baptist doubtless knew all about it, by His confession, as well as 
Jane Wardley knew all about Ann's. In turning to the New Testa- 
ment we find the gospels beginning with the call of God to one 
John, the son of Zacharias, who was to be the forerunner, to pre- 
pare the way for the man Jesus, the son of Joseph. John did not 
come with a new gospel, but in the power and spirit of Elias, and 
" was that Elias," to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, 
to revive the spirit of Moses' gospel or law, from which many 
had backslidden — to administer the gift of repentance and for- 
giveness of sins to all such as would honestly confess and forsake 
them, and return to the law. The account reads thus : 

" The word of G-od came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the 
wilderness ; " hence it is truly said " a man sent of God," just as 
Christ was. God sent John for one purpose, and Christ for 
another, both being God-commissioned agents — one to revive an 
old institution, the other to create a new one ; one to baptize 
with water, the other with fire. It is further recorded : " Multi- 
tudes came confessing their sins (violations of the law), and were 
baptized into the spirit of repentance." And here is where we 
get the first reliable account of Jesus, who was among the breth- 
ren there, and who came for the same purpose that the rest did — 
to acknowledge the gift of God in John, confess and repent, as it 
was impossible that He should supersede John without acknowl- 
edging and accepting the gift of God in him, who was as yet 
before Him. 

From St. John's account, it would seem that the Baptist did 
not know Jesus to be the chosen one that was to supersede him, 
even from His confession, as he said, " I knew Him not." — John 
i, 32. But He was pointed out by the descent of the Holy Spirit. 
Then says John : " I saw and bear record that this is the Son of 
God." It would be warping the record, as the Gnostics have 
done, to say the descending Spirit was the Christ, for John testi- 
fied he knew the coming Christ stood among them, before He was 
pointed out to him by the descent of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus could no more have superseded John, without submission 
to the order of God in him, than Ann Lee could have super- 
seded that of James and Jane Wardley, without confessing, 
acknowledging, and complying with the order of which they 
were the heads. Thus we may see the first steps that J esus took 



Christian Humility. 



109 



toward the priesthood or Christship was His childlike humility in 
bending before the gift of God in John, setting us an example 
in the very beginning of His work. We have no more right to 
dispute Jesus' confession to John than we have to dispute His being 
baptized by him unto repentance, of which His soul-melting 
prayer on the banks of the Jordan gives ample proof. It is all 
plain. 

Do any of us think that we can get to heaven with less 
humility than Jesus did ? If we do we are wofully mistaken. 
He is our exemplar, and as He worked out His salvation so must 
we ; and we shall be called to take no mortifying step, that our 
Father and Mother, Jesus and Ann, have not taken before us, 
but these we must take or never be saved. God will not provide 
one way for their salvation and another way for ours ; hence 
they say, follow us. To follow one is to follow the other, for 
they are one — • their example and teaching the same ; both, after 
their anointing, lived free from sin. 

The reason " Jesus was anointed above His fellows " (mind He 
had fellows), was because He was the best of His class — " loved 
righteousness and hated iniquity " more than any of them. It was 
written of Him thus : After His temptation, He returned in the 
power of the Spirit to Galilee, and thence to Nazareth, where He 
was brought up ; and, as His custom was, He went into the syna- 
gogue and stood up to read. And there was delivered to Him the 
book of Esaias, and when He had opened it He found the place 
where it was written : 

" The spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the gospel to the 
poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the cap- 
tives, to set at liberty them that are bound, to preach the accept- 
able year of the Lord." 

He then closed the Book, gave it to the minister and sat 
down. All eyes were fastened on Him. An electric flash from a 
cloudless sky at noonday would not have shocked them more than 
the next words He uttered from his seat : u This day is this Scrip- 
ture fulfilled in your ears" 

Thus was announced to an astonished world for the first time 
that the Christ they had so long expected was then sitting in their 
midst ! At first they were pleased with the gracious words that 
proceeded out of His mouth ; but after a few home thrusts, and 
the affirmation that He was the man to whom the prophetic word 
applied, they became enraged, and wanted to kill Him. A young 



110 



Christ's Second Appearing. 



man whom they had known, to presume so much ! He was now 
Jesus, the Christ, the commissioned of God, according to His own 
declaration. There was no miraculous dove talking or speaking 
through Him, as the Gnostics have reported. He was now at home 
among His brothers and sisters and young acquaintances, and well 
He knew they would suppose He had faults as well as they ; so He 
took the start of them by saying : " You will say unto me this 
proverb, ' Physician, heal thyself.' " But there was one thing that, 
perhaps, His relatives did not know, and that was, the physician 
had healed himself in the order of God under John. Thus, in 
short, we see the mode of His first appearing ; the second must be 
like unto it. 

Thus it was with Ann Lee, who went through the same ordeal, 
setting the example for womankind, that Jesus did for men, since 
which time the church has rested on these two pillars, no more to 
be overthrown. Thus, the " mystery of God, in the blazing sun- 
light of this day, is finished.'* Amen; it is finished. These truths 
may set hardly with some who have considered Jesus to be super- 
human ; but such must remember that He was one of the breth- 
ren, after His baptism, and not at all ashamed to call them so. 

But we are told that, although tempted in all points as we are, 
"He was without sin; and that He always did the things that pleased 
the Father." The same may be said of Ann, who manifested the 
Mother in Deity. She was without sin, and always did the things 
that pleased her Mother and Lord after she was commissioned. 
So it Avas with Christ ; for Jesus became the Christ by virtue of 
His appointment. He was not Christ before that time, but simply, 
as the Apostle John said, " Jesus of Xazareth, son of Joseph.*' 

But the anointed man was tempted in all points as we are, for, 
saith the apostle, "we have not an high priest who is not touched 
with our infirmities." Xow, it is a fact worthy of note, that ah 
temptations must come through some department of our nature. 
It is impossible for any one to be tempted by an external pre- 
sentment unless he has something within him which desires it. 
The serpent that tempted Eve only showed something she desired : 
and Adam could not have been overcome but for the fact that 
he had as strong a desire for the fruit as Eve had ; and his 
throwing the blame on her was simply cowardly and con- 
temptible. 

ISTow, if we know how we are tempted and what tempts us 
most, we know how Jesus was tempted and what tempted Him 



Ciikist Sufferings. 



Ill 



most ; but that He successfully resisted all temptations after He 
became the Christ none will dispute. This, and this alone, is the 
apostle's declaration, and is true. This adds an hundred fold 
more lustre to His brow than to admit the Gnostic doctrine, that 
a Christ came from some unknown world, entered into Him and 
rendered Him impeccable. 

Little is known of Jesus' history previous to His baptism by 
John ; but if we examine the word of the apostle closely we shall 
find that they thought Him not impeccable previous thereto : " In 
that He died, He died unto sin once," as we also must die. We 
cannot die to a thing to which we have never been alive. " He 
was as we are in this world." Do we not know how we are ? 
" He learned obedience by things He suffered," as we must. Also 
Peter iv, 1, 2: " For as much as Christ suffered for us in the flesh 
(not in our stead), arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, 
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin [as 
Jesus did], that he no longer should live the rest of his time [as 
he had done a part of his time] to the lust of men, but to the will 
of God." 

What sublime pathos in the soul-melting out-pouring of the 
spirit through the prophet Isaiah, in which it is shown that Jesus 
did the work for himself. Who is this that cometh from Edom, 
with dyed garments from Bozrah % — this that is glorious in his 
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength % Wherefore 
art thou red in thine apparel ? * * (His answer is enough to 
draw tears from a stone.) " I have trodden the winepress alone, 
and of the people there was none with me : And I looked and 
there was none to help, therefore mine own arm brought salvation 
unto me." — Isa. lxiii, 1, 2, 3, 5. 

It would seem that enough had been said showing the similarity 
between the first and second appearing ; but people do not readily 
believe if one stone is left unturned. It could not be said to be 
a second appearance if there was any essential contrast, either in 
the mode, effect, operation, or ultimate. We have shown that it 
was unnecessary for the same flesh and bones to reappear, to con- 
stitute a second appearance — but that Christ was manifested, and 
reappeared, in Ann's testimony, her searching power, her self-de- 
nial, tribulation, etc. ; in fact all the evidences reappeared in her 
that appeared in Jesus. 

He did not come with the nature of angels, but the seed of 
Abraham. She appeared likewise, not with the nature of angels, 



112 



Christ's Second Appearing. 



but with our nature ; hence Jesus and Ann are alike in their na- 
tures. As there was a forerunner in the first appearing to pre- 
pare the way for Jesus, so there was in the second appearing to 
prepare the way for Ann. 

Previous to the second appearance, anti-Christ began to be 
weakened by that memorable division called the " Reformation," 
by which a way was opened for man to contend for his long lost 
liberty. About this time, many religious revivals broke out in 
various parts of Europe, particularly in France and Germany. 
The remarkable revival which occurred about the year 1689, in 
the province of Dauphiny and Vivarais, in France, excited great 
attention. The subjects thereof testified that the end of things 
drew nigh ; they preached repentance, stating that the kingdom 
of God was at hand — that the marriage of the Lamb would soon 
take place. 

These witnesses increased until about the year 1706, when a 
few of them went over to England, where many were united to 
them, and both their numbers and powers of ministration, like 
the sea, ebbed and flowed for forty years, when a small number 
of the most faithful were led by the spirit to unite themselves 
into a small society, near Manchester, under the ministry of James 
and Jane Wardley. These were the John Baptists of the second 
appearing of Christ, to whom the people came and were baptized 
into the spirit of repentance, confessing their sins ; and Ann Lee 
was among the rest, and she came for the same purpose the rest 
did ; and as Jesus confessed to the forerunner in His day, so like- 
wise Ann Lee confessed to the forerunner of the Second Advent, 
and came up through that order, as Jesus did through that of 
John. So that the forerunners declared her to be, first a woman 
" coming after them, but was preferred hefore them, for she was 
before them." 

Thus it is seen that the second was the reappearing of the first ; 
hence, as promised, Christ has appeared " the second time without 
sin unto salvation " to all who will accept, believe and obey. 
The little handful continued to increase in light and power until 
the year 1770, when by a special manifestation of divine light the 
present testimony of salvation and eternal life was fully revealed 
to Ann Lee, and by her made known to the society ; and thus she 
rose above them and became the anointed and acknowledged 
leader of this faithful band. From this time forth Ann knew 
herself to be the Bride, the Lamb's wife, being baptized with the 



Co-Operation. 



113 



same spirit, and, by implicit obedience to the light received from 
God, she became conjoined to the Bridegroom, and was a co- 
worker with Him in the regeneration and redemption of the race 
— He the Father and She the Mother in spiritual Israel. 

And now let us ask : Are these too humble, lowly and mean to 
be honored with the leadership of God's people ? or shall we. 
Gnostic-like, look high up among the stars for a greater 1 It were 
folly to do so. We trust it is now seen that all the types and 
symbols under the shadowy dispensations of the law and the 
prophets are completely fulfilled in the " two anointed Ones " 
who stand as the first foundation pillars in the new creation — 
Jesus Christ and Ann Lee, whose ultimates are the same — the 
first appearing ultimated in a living body or Church, which had 
all things in common ; the second appearing ultimated in the 
same. Hence we see in every particular, from the first shadow- 
ing forth — from the first promise of God that a Redeemer should 
appear, through all prophecy up to the substance, the first and 
second — that the male and female are perfectly equal in type 
and symbol, in prophecy and person, in call, in character, in 
operation, in substance, in effect, in culmination and in ultimate. 
Equality ! is ineffaceably stamped upon them, never more to be 
blotted out. 

The same spirit now calls that called then ; the same doctrine 
is taught now that was taught then ; the same exhortation is made ; 
the invitation is given now to all kindreds, nations and tongues 
that was given then : " Look unto me and be saved, all ye ends 
of the earth." 

The last silver trumpet is now sounding to the inhabitants of 
the earth, and may its shrill and piercing notes reach every moun- 
tain-top, penetrate every forest, echo in every land and extend 
over every wide sea, till the whole earth shall know that now is 
come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the 
power of His Christ. 
15 



114 



THE DEVIL NOT SELF-EXISTENT. 



Text — Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a Devil ? — [John vi, 70. 

I propose to-day to fulfill the promise which I made in a pre- 
vious discourse, by calling your attention to the consideration of 
the great being named in the text. He has been made an impor- 
tant factor in the world's history from creation to the present 
day. So much importance has been and is (shall I say ignorantly ?) 
attached to him by pulpit orators and others, that he is now con- 
sidered by many to be co-equal in existence with God, and sufficient 
in power to frustrate the designs and thwart the plans of the 
Almighty. That while God's kingdom is a kingdom of light, 
his is a kingdom of darkness, from which he emerged in our 
world's infancy, and, in the absence of Deity, made shipwreck of 
his noblest work, causing the fall of man and taking him captive ; 
and the destruction was so great that God has not been able in 
6,000 years to fully repair the breach then made; and His own 
unappeasable wrath became so enkindled against man that He has 
given nine-tenths of his posterity to his Satanic Majesty, to be 
by him roasted in Plutonian fires through all eternity ! That, 
finally, He saw no plan to defeat the Devil and keep him from 
taking the whole, but to humble Himself and come down to earth 
through a woman, who in turn had to appear before a sinning 
priest, make confession and offer a sin offering for the uncleanness 
of that which God Himself had imposed on her ; and for which 
sinful act she has not only been canonized, but made the fourth 
person in the Godhead by the greatest of all the lower-floor 
churches. These glaring inconsistencies alone ought to be suffi- 
cient to satisfy every thoughtful and rational Bible student that 
the whole miraculous statement was a forged interpolation. But 
this humiliation on the part of Deity was to show the devil that, 
in the form of man, He could withstand his wiles and not be over- 
come by him, and for this cause the spirit led him into the wilder- 
ness to receive his temptations. Here He was made not only to 
fast forty days and forty nights, but was 



Internal Temptations. 



115 



SORELY TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL, 

who took Him from the wilderness upon a high mountain, where 
He could view the surroundings, and in a twinkling showed and 
offered Him "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of 
them," if He would forsake the Lord and worship him. Not satis- 
fied with this refusal of the God-man, the clevil took Him back to 
Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and, though 
sorely tempted, He stood His ground. Still, one would think He 
should not have been very greatly tempted by such offers when 
He had. the whole universe in the hollow of His hand. Now, 
temptation is an impossibility to any one who has nothing in him 
which covets or desires the thing offered. And as the God-man 
was tempted, it follows that He had within Him a desire for the 
things offered Him by the devil, and which desires had to be 
resisted and overcome ; thus it is evident that His desire for these 
things was the devil which had been worrying Him, and not some 
great external bugaboo. The error of the pulpit is in looking at 
this scene as a literal and external transaction, as impossible as it 
would have been. They contend that the fasting in the wilder- 
ness, His being taken by the devil on to an exceeding high 
mountain, and afterward being taken back by him to Jerusalem 
and set on a pinnacle of the temple, are prima facie evidence of 
the self-existence of the devil. But with little careful thought 
the student will discover its literal impossibility. First — It was a 
spiritual fast. While under the influence of these internal temp- 
tations in the wilderness of doubts in regard to the efficacy and 
success of the work He was called to, He could receive no spiritual 
food ; but after He had resisted all those temptations and banished 
all vain desires, angels then could find access, and " came and 
ministered to Him" the bread and waters of life. We know that 
He was not bodily set upon a church steeple, nor bodily carried 
on to that high mountain. These were only the self -exalted 
notions presented in His mind, which He found it His duty to 
banish before He could receive the blessing of angels. Thus it 
will be seen we have not found the external monster yet, either 
in or out of the Bible, but in man only. Hath not God chosen 
hundreds, and are not some of them devils ? Every hypocrite, 
every thief, every liar, every backbiter, every fomenter of discord, 
every debaucher, and all who obey the lower instead of the higher 
impulses, may be classed with Judas as devils. So, then, if any 



116 



The Devil not Self-Existent. 



have a curiosity to see the devil, 1 would advise them to look 
within, and if he is not there, they need not fear him. 

But I must come more directly to the subject and consider the 
possibility of two independent, self-existent beings, and notice 
some of the arguments in its favor. It is asserted that all exist- 
ences have their opposites, as light and darkness, heat and cold, 
life and death, good and evil, God and devil, and that we have 
the same evidence for the existence of one that we have for the 
other. The error here consists in taking conditions and qualities 
for entities. Darkness is not an entity, and heat and cold, life 
and death, are conditions of matter; good and evil are qualities 
only. 

God is infinite spirit ; but infinite devil is a chimera, as I will 
hereafter show. Besides, we have not, as asserted, the same evi- 
dence for the existence of a devil, external to man, that we have 
for the existence of God. For the latter we have the harmonious 
universe. For the former, or devil, we have no evidence of his 
existence only in the actions and deeds of man, which go far to 
prove that he has no existence exterior to finite creatures. " Have 
I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" But it is 
affirmed that the " free agency of man pre-supposes the existence 
of two opposite powers, controlled and directed by two primary 
antagonistic intelligences or beings." But this conclusion does 
not follow, but the reverse. This is a sophism that logicians call 
non causa pro causa — the assignation of a false cause. Two 
equal antagonistic powers cannot cause free agency or any other 
active condition to exist. There is no living thing whose exist- 
ence can possibly pre-suppose two antagonisms. On the contrary, 
such existences pre-suppose something harmonious. A thing made 
and destroyed does not pre-suppose two antagonisms, but simply 
the power to make and destroy. But 'tis argued that God made 
his free agent, man, "very good," which supposes a good maker ; 
but now man is made very bad, and this supposes a bad makei 01 
devil, since God could not be the maker nor author of any thing 
bad. Hence, if the good man is proof of a good maker — God — 
the bad man is proof of a bad maker — devil — thus the existence 
of the great antagonist of God is logically proved. Not so fast. 
Logic wrongly applied is worse than no logic at all. 

In this there is no agreement between premise and conclusion. 
That God's free agent had the power to misuse the good faculties 
given by his Maker, and thus become a bad man, affords no evi- 



Free Agency. 



117 



dence that another being external to himself had any hand in it. 
So we still have no necessity for God's great adversary. 

But it is further asked: "If God gave man the inclination, or 
that which caused the inclination, to do wrong, knowing he would 
do so, does this not make God Himself responsible?" By no 
means. God could not do an impossible thing. It was necessary 
to progression that man should be free, which could not be with- 
out investing him with power either to do or not to do at pleasure. 
If he had not this power he would be relieved of the responsi- 
bility ; but, having it, makes him a creature of rewards and pun- 
ishments. He is thus accountable for all the words and deeds of 
life, and may either become a devil or saint, as he may elect. 
" For the Son of Man shall come * * Then He shall reward 
every man according to his works." — Matt, xvi, 27. But the 
querist continues : What caused the man to choose to follow the 
bad inclinations, if the devil did not come to tempt him ? In 
reply I would ask : What caused him to listen to the devil ? 
When this is answered, the other will be also. It is evident that, 
if man had not the inclination to deviate from a straight line, or 
as he was acted on by his Creator, he would simply be a machine 
without accountability. If it still be supposed that the good man 
would not have erred but for the interposition of a foreign being 
called devil, this would still deny his free agency. ~No reason nor 
logic can show that either the machine or the man could become 
a free agent by being placed between two opposite forces, whether 
these forces were equal or unequal. If they were equal, the man 
or machine would be made to stand still and be held in equilibrio. 
If the forces were unequal, he would be moved and guided by 
the strongest power, and, as the majority of mankind are in " evil 
continually," it would follow that there is a power greater than 
God. Then why strive to obey the weaker power? To this 
would the acceptance of a self-existent devil lead. But it is 
added : What meant Christ in saying to the Jews, " Ye are of 
your father the Devil " (John viii, 44), if he did not mean, My 
Father is God ; your father is the devil ? Are not Christ's plain 
declarations to be relied on ? Most certainly. But Christ added : 
" Your father's lusts ye will do." His meaning would have been 
more clear if He had said : " My Father is the Spirit, your father 
is the flesh, and his lusts ye will do." " Ladies and gentlemen," 
as you are pleased to style yourselves. You are free agents. 
Flesh or spirit % Both cannot occupy the same chamber. Lower 



118 



The Devil not Self-Existent. 



floor or upper floor? Carnal life or spirit life? God-spirit 
father, or flesh-devil father? We will all show onr choice by the 
lives we lead. That devils do exist none will dispute. " Have I 
not chosen twelve, and one of yon is a devil ?" But his unorigi- 
nality and self-existence are denied. The moment investigation 
begins, we see it involves the following 

PARADOXICAL SOLECISMS '. 

Two equal infinities, creator and destroyer. Two supremes, 
two first causes, two necessary self -sufficient existences, two origi- 
nals, two almighties, all of which are absurd and impossible. But 
were these true, the universe could not have been created at all, 
for two equal forces, whether of mind or matter, would have 
brought every thing to a stand-still. While it would have been 
the mind of one to create, it would of necessity have been the 
mind of the opposite to destroy, and, being equals, no world 
could have been made ; but the universe denies the propo- 
sition. It is sufficient to say here, that which has no beginning 
can have no ending, and if the devil is a self-existent being he 
must continue forever. An un originated being is a necessary 
existence, and must be just what it is — must exist because of the 
necessity of such existence ; consequently must be good. His 
goodness is as necessary as his existence. He could not be evil 
because evil is unnecessary, not needed ; consequently not unorigi- 
nated. Pursuing the thought, we discover that a necessary being 
is necessarily from everlasting, without beginning, without end- 
ing, self-existent, self-sufficient, almighty. Such being must of 
necessity be wise, his wisdom be infinite, as there is the same 
reason for the infinity of his wisdom as that of his being, and, 
being infinitely wise, he must perceive that goodness is infinitely 
better than evil, love than malice. In a word, being independent 
in his existence, and consequently in his action, he must of infinite 
necessity choose to be good. Hence we assert, with mathematical 
and logical certainty, that a necessary being is necessarily good, 
wise and perfect. All of which is proved from the mode of his 
existence. How then is it possible for a sane mind, after tracing 
matters thus far, to admit that another being, whose mode of exist- 
ence is precisely the same, can, notwithstanding, possess a nature 
diametrically opposite ? Whoever asserts that an eternal, self- 
existent being can be absolutely malicious has no argument to 
prove that another being of precisely the same mode of existence 



The Devil's Exit. 



119 



is absolutely good. So thus logically stands the case : If a self- 
existent being be necessarily good, as proved, there can be no self- 
existent evil being. Thus his majesty 

VANISHES INTO THIN AIR ; 

for, unless the axiom that the same cause must always produce 
the same effect be given up as false and absurd, we are compelled 
to admit that those primary beings whose mode of existence is the 
same must be similar in their character and nature. Thus we see 
that, by the admission of so great an absurdity as the existence 
of two or more primary beings, we gain nothing by it. We have 
not found an eternal source of evil at last. For two eternal inde- 
pendent beings cannot be admitted. When the mind has ration- 
ally traced out as shown, the existence and attributes of one nec- 
essary being, it cannot logically suppose another ; because one 
being of infinite power and wisdom is fully sufficient to account 
for creation. So in strictness of language and logic, there can be 
but one eternal, self-existent, infinite and necessary being. There 
can be but one infinite space. If we supposed two, we set bounds 
to each, and thus destroy the infinity of both. Just so is it with 
infinite beings. By admitting two we destroy the infinity and un- 
deify both. But it may still be affirmed that after having 
found an efficient cause for the existence of all created good, 
we still want an efficient cause for evil, and argue that, 
since one necessary being is necessarily good and perfect, to 
suppose that evil originated from Him would be to deny his nec- 
essary goodness. However distressing the necessity may be to 
discover the origin of evil, we cannot remove the difficulty 
by supposing an eternal self-existent evil being, for in so doing we 
create a greater absurdity than we remove. The good Apostle 
James points out its origin in the following emphatic language : 
" From whence come wars and fightings among you ? Come they 
not hence even of your lusts that war in your members " (where 
the flesh-devil reigns) — James iv, 1. He further says : "Resist 
this devil and he will flee from you." But whenever we assert 
that a necessary being is not necessarily good and perfect we do 
away with the necessity of an evil being, because such being may 
be the author of both good and evil ; so then the case would 
logically stand thus : If a self -existent being be necessarily good, 
there can be no self-existent evil being. But if a self -existent 
being be not necessarily good, it would follow that God is not nec- 



120 



The Devil not Self-Existent. 



essarily and unchangeably good, and may, therefore, be the 
author of evil ; consequently, we would have no use for a self- 
existent devil. According to the first proposition, the existence 
of such a being is impossible. According to the second he is 
wholly unnecessary. Thus his non-existence is proved to a de- 
monstration. 

SPINOZA. 

I might stop here, but will tax your patience a little further by 
reading a quotation from the Hebrew philosopher Benedict de 
Spinoza, as follows : " If the devil be an entity contrary in all 
respects to God, having nothing of God in his nature, then he 
can have nothing in common with God. Is he assumed to be a 
thinking entity, as some will have it, who never wills and never 
does any good, and who sets himself in opposition to God on all 
occasions, he must assuredly be a very wretched being, and, could 
prayers do any thing for him, his amendment were much to be 
implored. But let us ask, whether so miserable an object could 
exist even for an instant, and, the question put, we see at once 
that it could not, for from the perfection of a thing proceeds its 
power of continuance. The more of the essential and divine a 
thing possesses, the more enduring it is. But how could the devil, 
having no trace of perfection in him, exist at all ? Add to this 
that the stability or duration of a thinking thing depends entirely 
on its love of and union with God, and that the opposite of this 
state in every particular being presumed in the devil, it is 
obviously impossible that there can be any such being. And then 
there is, indeed, no necessity to presume the existence of a devil, 
for the causes of hate, envy, anger and all such passions are 
readily enough discovered, and there is no occasion for resort to 
fiction to account for the evils they engender." 

This I consider true. It were indeed absurd to refer to a foreign 
power that which man is able to perform of himself, and which 
it is well known he has performed in all ages of the world. The 
passional nature of man is sufficient to account for all the evils of 
the world — past, present and to come. But men will reluctantly 
yield opinions imbibed, as it were, from their mother's bosom, 
and, with all that has been or can be said, will feel somewhat like 
the darky who said : " Sah, you need not tell dis niggah dar is 
no debbil. Kase, if dah was no debbil, how does da make de 
picters so zackly like him? Wid dem big claws and dat 



The Origin of Evil. 121 

great chain around his neck and de angel a holden him in 
de pit till God gets ready to let him loose. When dat 
time comes, see if you will den say dar is no debbil." I am 
cited to other texts of scripture than those quoted, which, now to 
notice, would be too great a strain on your already overtaxed 
patience. I will, therefore, close with the words of our Saviour, 
which plainly show where we may look for the devil, and the 
origin of evil. He says (Matt, xv, 19) : " For out of the heart 
of man proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, 
thefts," etc. Not from some foreign source, but from the heart 
of man. Then let us all " turn the battle to the gate," " purify 
the heart," drive out our own little devils, and then we shall have 
no cause to fear the big one. 
16 



122 



BIBLE METAPHOR. 



When any person appears before an audience of intelligent 
people to address them, he should be induced to do so from one 
of two motives, viz. : either to exhort them to greater holiness of 
life, or to enlighten their understandings. I am vain enough to 
be moved by the latter on this occasion. That which men have 
most overlooked in regard to the Bible is its metaphor — its beau- 
tiful tropes, figures of speech and symbol. Its richness in these 
excels any other book. A want of comprehending them has made 
many things appear to be miracles when they were not, and has 
caused many to throw the book aside as useless rubbish. The 
orthodox are at one extreme, that of worshipful veneration, and 
the generative spiritualists and infidels at the other, that of inso- 
lent contempt. Both conditions are caused by either the want 
of comprehension, or of close, candid and unbiased inspection. I 
am not vain enough to suppose that I or any other person can 
reconcile all that is contained in the good book, either meta- 
phorically or otherwise, with the scientific knowledge of to-day. 
But, in my judgment, it has fewer faults than the infidel supposes, 
and more than the orthodox are willing to admit. Much that is 
deemed faulty by the former is true when properly understood, 
but with a very different meaning than that applied by the latter. 
A few of them, and very few out of the many that can be made 
plain to the common mind, I now propose to notice. I will 
begin with the statement of the creation of man, 6,000 years 
ago, which is so lustily berated and disputed by scientific evolu- 
tionists and generative spiritualists, and see if the Bible be not 
sustained. That the species homo, or man, has existed on this 
planet at least 100,000 years prior to the event here recorded the 
honest explorers of this field have fully proved. But this does 
not invalidate the Bible story in the least degree, because it speaks 
of a different creation. The term " create " has two significations — 
one to make anew, the other to change. To change is to create a 
new condition; hence, the new condition is a creation. The 



A New Condition. 



123 



story reads thus : " Let us make man in our image.'' — Gen. i, 26. 
So it seems that, previous to this, man had not been in God's 
image, and, in order to make him so, it was necessary to make 
him differently from what he had been previously. Some writers 
say that, because they were created male and female, this feature 
was God's image ; but this would have wrought no change, for 
primal man was thus from the beginning. Besides, this whole 
planet, mineral, vegetable, and animal, was created male and 
female, previous to the existence of man. Were this God's im- 
age, then the beasts of the field were in God's image before man 
was created (!) Verse 7, of the 2d chapter, says : u And the Lord 
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." This 
shows that previous to this he was a dead soul. But God made 
him of the dust of the ground. What dust ? Answer : The dust 
of promiscuity and animalism. There was no other dust to make 
him of. God being spirit, He made the internal, the real man 
spirit also — " breathed into him the breath of life " — quickened, 
changed him from death unto life ; hence in His own image. 
Any other construction would conflict with known truths. The 
common orthodox rendering seems to me to be as ridiculous as 
that of the negro who said : " De fuss man God made was black. 
He took some good, rich, black dirt an' mold him up, den set him 
up 'gin de fence to dry, and blowed bref into him ;" whereupon 
one of his hearers ejaculated : " Who made de fence ? " But 
creation did not stop here. It was found that the newly-made 
man, who was chosen and appointed to lead in the advanced 
order, had no counterpart. There was no woman made anew 
with a living soul, and God saw that it was not good for the 
quickened man to be alone. So the account goes : He brought a 
deep sleep on Adam, when a rib was taken from his side, of which 
a woman was made. I would remind my readers of the fact that 
the Hebrew word Adam is a noun of multitude, as well as a 
noun proper. It is like our word man, which may mean either a 
single man or mankind ; so Adam may mean either the man 
Adam or Adamkind. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that it 
was Adamkind that slept from whom the rib or binder was taken 
for the man Adam's counterpart. She was then the newly made 
woman, quickened as the newly made man, who were intended 
for the higher order of marriage, which was now for the first 
time instituted. 



124 



Bible Metaphor. 



Thus it was that man and woman were created more than 6,000 
years ago, according to Bible history, which is shown to be con- 
sistent, and not in conflict, with any known truth. The whole 
story of man's creation, of his rectitude, of the Garden, the ser- 
pent, etc., is a beautiful allegory, and no less beautiful than true, 
and all the derision and cant which has been cast upon it is only 
so much wasted breath. I will pass the plagues of Egypt, the 
serpent-rods, the Red sea, to Joshua. One of the greatest stumb- 
ling-blocks to Bible-readers is that of Joshua commanding the Sun 
to stand still on Gibeon, to lengthen the daylight from twelve to 
twenty-four hours, in order that he might slaughter all the women 
and babies as well as men that dwelt in the land. But the first 
question in order is : Did God have any thing to do in directing 
a war so merciless 1 This, I think, is not altogether unanswera- 
ble. God, for man's edification and instruction, is within him ; 
His word is there, and whosoever obeys that word, impressed on 
his higher consciousness, obeys God. If Joshua thus obeyed the 
operation of God's spirit within, it would follow that God directed 
the warfare, as when any of us obey the highest light vouchsafed 
to us, we obey God, and are, for the present time, justified, though 
ever so imperfect. But whether Joshua did this or not, I am 
unable to say, and therefore drop this part of the subject. It 
seems that the rulers in Gibeon had, by deceit and hard lying, 
entered into a league with Joshua, whicli so incensed the five 
adjacent kingdoms that they combined together and brought up 
their armies to chastise them for it, and, although Gibeon was the 
greatest, the five against him would certainly have conquered 
him, but they sent runners to Joshua, whose army was encamped 
at Gilgal, to ask his aid, thinking that with the help of his army 
they might be saved from destruction. Joshua consulted the 
Lord and was ordered to go up to Gibeon. Arriving there, he 
would not accept Gentile assistance. The account runs thus : 
" Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord 
delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he 
said in the sight of the children of Israel : Sun, stand thou still 
upon Gibeon and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon, and the 
Sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hasted not to go down 
about a whole day." Josh, x, 12,13. There can be but little 
doubt but what such transaction occurred, and that the Sun and 
Moon, spoken to by Joshua, obeyed him, but they were not our 
day and night luminaries. If the Sun was up in the stellar 



Joshua's Command Illustrated. 



125 



regions the Moon was there also ; but it will be observed that the 
Sun spoken to was on Gibeon, and the Moon addressed was in 
the valley. Exactly here is where the two Gentile armies were, 
the greatest on Gibeon, called the Sun, the secondary the Moon, 
which obeyed the command of Joshua and stood still in the midst 
of heaven, or extreme happiness, the whole day, to see Joshua 
slay their enemies without their aid. It is no wonder the Sun 
was in heaven all that day. Now, had it been our luminary that 
Joshua addressed, it would have required nearly fourteen years 
for the command to have reached his burning and anxious ear. 
Astronomers tell us that if one end of a chain could be attached 
to the sun and the other end to this planet, and they should start 
opposite directions, it would take about one decade to tighten the 
chain. But orthodoxans ask : Could not the Lord hear Joshua, 
and so stop the sun at once ? What the Lord could have done I 
cannot say, but in this case the most convenient thing would have 
been to apply the brakes to our own little car-wheel, and stop its 
revolving on its axis, without calling to an object 95,000,000 of 
miles distant ! 

Thus it seems to me that we cannot fail to see that the meta- 
phorical exegesis is the only consistent and correct one. We 
would be startled at such literal construction now, when we make 
use of the same kind of metaphor that was used then. We call 
a fearless, brave man a lion, without dreaming of his having four 
legs ; a meek one, a lamb, and so on, and make nothing strange 
of it. Suppose our late war had been recorded in the Bible, how 
many miracles could have been manufactured to astonish future 
generations. 

For instance, the walls of Sumpter were said to be sixteen feet 
thick, of solid masonry, three or four times the resisting power of 
the walls of Jericho, and see how quickly they tumbled down at 
the sound of the voices of three little swamp-angels ! This was 
the printed literature of the day that went all over the world — 
yet the event at Jericho is said to be a great miracle, because the 
walls of that town fell at the sound of seven rams-horns. 

Now, any wall of a given thickness has a certain power of 
resistance per square inch, which must be overcome ere the tumb- 
ling down will commence. Historians give ample proof of the 
Jews' mode of battering down walls. Jericho was not an excep- 
tion. Those troopers, with the rams-horns, were doubtless the 
watch for those engaged in fixing their usual battering-rams to be 



126 



Bible Metaphor. 



moved by two or three thousand men, at a given signal, which 
was when the seventh long blast was sounded. The account is 
doubtless true, that the walls fell at that signal. It is no benefit 
to sacred writ, for designing men to try to make the scriptures 
more than true to stimulate our gaping marvelousness. Had 
there been no elementary force besides the rams-horns brought to 
bear on the walls, they might have galloped and tooted till the 
crack of doom, and not one brick would have moved from its 
resting place. Again, look at our metaphor, in war times, slightly 
clothed in Bible language. Behold, the enemies of the Lord in 
the Southland trained a band of Louisiana Tigers, fierce and 
powerful, to tear in pieces God's chosen army (?). But the " Lord 
fought for Israel," and defeated them with great slaughter, and' 
the remnant fled in utter confusion to their dens, canebrakes and 
swamps for safety, and the Lord triumphed ! But the enemy, not 
wholly subdued, trained a host of Copperheads and tied fire- 
brands between their tails, and sent them to " burn the shocks " 
and supplies of the armies of Israel. But, instead, lo and behold ! 
God turned their weapons against them, and burned the whole 
region with fire, and smote it with the sword, from the land of 
cane and cotton even to the great sea ! All this only goes to show 
with what ease metaphor may be made to resemble fact. The 
prophet's she bears only differed from the Louisiana Tigers in 
gender, and Samson's foxes had just as many legs and tails each 
as the Copperheads, and no more. To be tied by the tails is to 
be joined by the lower passions for evil. To be tied by the heads 
is to be joined by the higher and nobler faculties for good. It 
was well said that Samson's foxes were tied together by their tails 
with fire between them. Had it been four-legged foxes, they 
would have had more concern for their tails than for the shocks 
of the Philistines. But the orthodox would have us believe that 
God could so fix the fire-brands between their tails that it would 
neither burn them nor the string with which it was tied ! It is 
this kind of literalizing impossibilities that makes infidels by 
hundreds. Wherever it is possible, we should take a common- 
sense view of Bible history, and not strive to convert it into 
impossible marvels. There are many apparently miraculous 
statements in the good book that admit of a rational exegesis, to 
some of which I may hereafter refer, but cannot do so now. The 
orthodox call this meddling with God's word. But it is well 
to remember that it is a child that has been lost and found, and 



Bible Manipulation. 



127 



has been greatly meddled with by various Sanhedrims and coun- 
cils of carnal men, for many centuries past ; the most of whom 
were inclined to exaggeration — to color and magnify, if not to 
mystify, the word ; and the great wonder is that it has come 
down to us even as perfect as we now find it. It is at the present 
time undergoing another manipulation at the hands of a lot of 
sinners in England, and whether it will be improved or worsted 
we shall perhaps learn in the future. They are doubtless tainted 
with the Nicene fraud, and it is not difficult to rearrange nouns, 
verbs, adjectives and adverbs, so as to give them a meaning at 
variance with the original. 

The things to which Bible statements refer are either possible 
or impossible. If impossible in either the literal or metaphorical 
sense, they are fraudulent interpolations by designing men. I 
do not mean to say that all we cannot comprehend is fraud. I 
refer only to that which is comprehensible and yet impossible. 
But the orthodox, in defense of the whole as it is, tell us that 
with God all things are possible. This, I say, not irreverently, is 
a mistaken declaration. It is impossible for any power to cause 
a thing to be and not to be at the same time, or to make two par- 
ticles of matter occupy the same point in space at the same time. 
It is no sacrilege to affirm that things which are absolutely im- 
possible are as much so with God as with men, but this is not 
affirming that there are not things possible with God that are 
impossible with men. In Bible history, as I have endeavored to 
show, there are many statements, which, if taken literally, seem 
absurd and impossible, but when metaphorically considered are 
found to be in harmony with scientific truth. This should cause 
us all to hesitate in condemning that which we do not yet under- 
stand. Truth, as a whole or in parts, is a harmony either natural 
or spiritual, or both together, and wherever there is the least 
clashing there is error either on the one side or the other, or both. 
Too carnal to understand spiritual things, some great writers call 
us back from the inspired word to nature. John Weiss, a gospel 
minister, so called, and one of the most able writers of the age, 
after having given orthodox revivalism in the Radical Review a 
severe scourging, has nothing for us to fall back on but nature. 
He says : " The spasms of lecture rooms and tabernacles cannot 
galvanize a soul back into that corpse whose crime has been that 
it lived by false pretenses on the human heart. If a great people 
would tingle with revival, let it stand in the circuit of nature and 



128 



Bible JMetaphoe. 



permit the element to steam through, it," etc. This is just what 
the infidel world has been doing for centuries, and what have 
they to show for Nature's revival ? Intellectually, something. 
Spiritually, nothing. Nature alone, without God's internal in- 
spirations, would take the whole world back behind the fig-leaf 
dispensation. The difficulty with this class of giant intellects is, 
they keep looking into nature in their search for G-od, and find 
just as much as a bat does, and seem to think intellect is spirit. 
All such will yet have to learn that in order to be saved they 
must find God in His order of finite agents, and where He has 
"placed His name for salvation." Zion is that place. (Isa. xlvi, 
13.) God is consistent with Himself ; He will not establish an 
order for the redemption of man, and then save him standing in 
nature waiting for her tingling inspirations. 

" But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
God ; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned." — I Cor. ii, 14. 



CONCEPTION OF CHRIST. 



The text I have chosen to-day may be found in John iii, 0 : 
k ' That which is horn of flesh is flesh; that which is horn of the spirit 
is spirit." We extend the text, and say, that which is begotten 
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten of the spirit is 
spirit. 

Mankind are divided into many classes, but may be reduced 
to two. Materialistic evolutionists make them the same, contra- 
vening the assertion of Locke that matter cannot think, and that 
no new property is added to it by change of position and rela- 
tion. I. In proof of their position, they assert that matter invis- 
ible is sensitive, because certain plants will shrink from human 
touch ; hence the matter of its formation must have contained 
the sensitive quality before the plant was formed. II. They fur- 
ther assert that some plants are carniverous, and destroy animal 
or insect life for their growth and sustenance ; and here the evi- 
dence of thought begins and extends in the higher growths, to 
animal and man, all of which are matter. " All flesh is grass." 
This year the grass grows ; it is turned under, and next year it 
is corn, and the next it is animal, and the next it is man. Thus 
evolution makes man, with sensation and thought, from the " dust 
of the ground," and in this it triumphantly tells us that it stands 
on Bible ground. But how will it do to say all flesh is spirit ? 
Here the evolutionist steps off of Bible ground into impenetrable 
darkness, because he ignores the great, grand over-thought, the 
cause of the first atom and the first thought ; or, he might recog- 
nize the further Bible doctrine of the breathing in something dis- 
tinct from matter, and learn that whatsoever is born of the spirit is 
spirit, and not matter ; and thus not lose sight of the philosophy 
which teaches that these are contradictory substances which are 
neither blendable nor interchangeable. There are substances in 
matter that cannot be really made to touch nor intermingle with- 
out the introduction of a third. 

"Where the touch is complete, a real union is formed. Could 
17 



130 



Conception of Christ. 



you bring two boards into full contact, you would need no glue 
to hold them together. But I am wandering. Spirit and matter, 
being contradictory substances, tactualization becomes impossible. 
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Jesus was born of a 
woman who was flesh ; consequently, Jesus was flesh. But He 
was afterward born of the spirit. " Marvel not that I say ye 
must be born again," [as I have been]. It is not rational to sup- 
pose that Jesus could have been born like us, unless He had been 
begotten like us. In support of this, I will cite you to Bible 
testimony. It is said, Kom. viii, 29, that Christ was the first 
born among many brethren. This has reference to the spiritual 
birth — being born of the spirit out of a sinful nature; and all 
that receive this new birth are brethren. That which is born of 
the spirit is spirit. Again, I Cor. v, 20th : " Christ is the head 
of the body, the first born from the dead." To become His 
brethren, then, we must be begotten and born from the dead, 
spiritually as He was. Without this we cannot be called His 
brethren, neither could He designate us as such. ISTo one can be 
numbered with, and become one of His brethren while living the 
worldly life, whether he be professor or profane. But now Christ 
is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that 
slept. For since by man came death, by man also came the 
resurrection from the dead. — I Cor. xv, 20, 21. 

The lesson to be learned from this is, first, Jesus was a man 
born of the flesh, like His brethren were ; and, second, that He 
had been dead to that spiritual life into which He rose. He could 
not have risen from the dead except He had been dead ; but being 
born of the spirit, by obedience to God, His spirit arose from the 
dead, and this was His true resurrection, to which He always had 
reference, and not that of the material body ; and this must be 
the resurrection of all who are ever saved — for whatsoever is 
born of the spirit is spirit. Having led you along thus far, I 
will now call your attention to the two first chapters of Matthew's 
and Luke's gospels, which treat of the miraculous conception of 
Christ, noting the fact that, of the four gospels, two are silent on 
the subject, a very great and culpable neglect surely, if the state- 
ment be true. 

That it has been clearly shown to be spurious by able writers, 
precludes the necessity of my going outside the sacred volume 
for evidence pro or con. I would, however, thus far deviate as 
to let you know that the oldest Greek copy now extant is in the 



That which is born of Flesh is Flesh. 131 

English Museum in London, and is written in Greek capitals. 
In this copy the four gospels all begin alike, at the baptism of 
John, showing that the story has been introduced and added to 
Matthew's and Luke's gospels at some later period. But this I 
leave. 

The first Scripture text which is generally admitted to refer to 
Christ is found in Deuteronomy — the last book of the Pentateuch, 
v. 18, chap. 15, and reads : " A prophet shall the Lord your God 
raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me, Him shall ye 
hear." This is to the point and sustains the text. " That which 
is born of the flesh is flesh." The prophet spoken of by Moses 
is acknowledged to be the Christ, who was not only to be like 
Moses, who was the Christ of the law dispensation and type of 
Jesus, but like Him "raised up of the brethren" — that is, of 
their stock or race; of the seed of Abraham and David. It 
then cannot fail to be seen that these first words spoken of Christ 
deny the miraculous story. But further, Isa. xii, 1: "And 
there shall come forth a root out of the stem of Jesse, and a 
branch shall grow up out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord 
shall rest upon him — the spirit of wisdom and understanding." 
This was clearly and literally fulfilled in Jesus, both in the natural 
and spiritual point of view. Let it be observed, He was to come 
of Jesse, not from the stellar regions, but was to grow up out of 
his roots, thus flatly denying the miraculous statement. Again, 
Jeremiah, xxiii, 5 : " Behold, saith the Lord, the days come that 
I will raise unto David a righteous branch ; and He shall be called 
the Lord our righteousness." And Micah, v, 2 . " But thou, 
Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands 
of Judah, out of thee shall He come forth to me that is to be ruler 
in Israel." Thus we see the Prophets are in harmony, and a unit 
in denying the miraculous story, and point directly to Jesus, the 
man Jesus, as the Christ ; one who was begotten and born of the 
flesh as other men. Much more might be cited to the same effect 
in the Old Testament, but I must not be too tedious. 

I turn now to the .New Testament, beginning with Matthew, i, 
1 : " The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David, 
the son of Abraham." Now let me ask : Who does not know 
what generation means? Then the son of David, the son of 
Abraham, and consequently, beyond denial, the son of Joseph, to 
whom he is traced. Thus is the story denied before it is told ; 
and x, 25 : "It is enough that the disciple be as his Master, and 



132 



Conception of Christ. 



the servant as his Lord." Now please notice particularly : If the 
disciple was as his Master — and we know how the disciple was — 
we then know how the Master was. But further, see John i, 
45 : "We have found him of whom Moses and the prophets did 
write, " Jesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph." Thus in one 
brief sentence does the beloved apostle nail the whole story to 
the counter, and confirm what the prophets foretold. 

But I am reminded that this same apostle has also said that He 
was " the root and offspring of David ; " and am asked : How 
could He be the root of David without having preceded him ? 
And I would ask : How could He be the offspring of David with- 
out succeeding him ? But I will explain : He was born of the 
Spirit before David, and spiritually preceded him — and was, 
therefore, the root of David. He succeeded him in being born 
of the flesh, and hence was the offspring of David. He was, 
therefore, the root of David by regeneration, and the offspring of 
David by generation. So the apostle said truly : " He is the root 
and offspring of David," which could not have been said of Him 
had He not been flesh — born of the flesh. 

So readily do all the texts of the good book come to the support 
of the truth when properly understood. But still more, viii, 
40 : " But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the 
truth which I have heard from God." It seems that none but the 
willful can possibly mistake the meaning of the good apostle 
John, who declares in plain words, that Jesus was the son of 
Joseph, and Luke and Matthew, put the story at variance with 
itself. In chapter 1, verse 32, the angel Gabriel is made to use 
the following emphatic language to Mary : " Thou shaft conceive 
and bring forth a son, and the Lord shall give unto Him the 
throne of His father David." He did not say of His father 
Holy Ghost, nor His father God, but His father David. 

The ano-el Gabriel did not so much as hint that He should be 
miraculously conceived. Also chapter 2, verse 41 : " His parents, 
Joseph and Mary, went yearly to Jerusalem ; " and verse 48 : 
" Son, why hast thou dealt so with us? Thy father and I have 
sought Thee sorrowing." She did not say, Thy Holy Ghost 
father, nor Thy father God, has been seeking Thee. Evidently 
it was Joseph and Mary who were the anxious and sorrowing 
couple. Chapter 2, verse 23: "And Jesus being the son of 
Joseph, the son of Heli." I would further cite you to Acts, ii, 
30 : " God hath sworn with an oath to David, that of the fruit of 



Plain Evidence. 



133 



his loins according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ." Jesus 
was this fruit ; and xiii, 23, is plainer still : " Of this man's seed 
hath God, according to His promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, 
Jesus.'- It is perfectly clear, if the apostle knew what he was 
talking about, that Christ could not have been miraculously con- 
ceived. Romans, i, 3 : " Concerning His Son Jesus Christ, which 
was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, and 
declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the 
spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead." How clear 
these words are to the unbiased mind. First — Made of the seed 
of David according to the flesh ; born of the flesh and was flesh. 
Secondly — Declared to be the Son of God, by his resurrection from 
his former dead estate ; born of the spirit and was spirit ; now a 
spiritual, instead of a natural man. 

Thus have I given you a chain of evidence showing the perfect 
harmony of the Old and ~New Testaments on this subject, and 
proving, beyond dispute, that Jesus was not miraculously begot- 
ten nor conceived. This miraculous story is a Catholic teat, from 
which the Protestant churches have been drawing nutriment from 
the days of Luther down to Beecher. Tertullian, one of the 
early Catholic fathers, born about one hundred and fifty of our 
era, has given the most plausible and ingenious mode of Christ's 
introduction into this world, to sustain the story, that I have any- 
where noticed. It is this : u As the branch is not separate from 
the root, the river from its fountain, nor the ray from the sun, so 
the word (Christ) is not separated from God, and this ray of God, 
passing into a certain virgin, became flesh in her womb, and was 
born a man mixed with God ; the flesh, animated by the spirit, 
was nourished, grew, sj>oke, taught, operated, and this (flesh) was 
Christ." This fictitious story is told in the most serious earnest- 
ness by the author of many volumes, he being one of the most 
learned divines of his day. But it will be perceived that, while 
he favors the miraculous story, he admits that Jesus was the 
Christ. 

But where did the animated flesh come from ? Was the ray 
that entered the virgin matter, or spirit ? If it was not separated 
from God, how did it become His Son ? If the ray that came from 
God and became flesh in the virgin was not separated from God, 
but a part of Him, then God is Himself matter, because spirit and 
matter are not interchangeable. If it was spirit, it could not 
become flesh. Besides, God cannot become mixed up with flesh. 



134 



Conception of Christ 



And if God is omnipresent, He was in Mary before the ray. The 
question would then arise : Whence came the ray ? He says 
from God. But where was God ? On all these points, the Holy 
Father leaves us in Cimmerian darkness. The subject, at least, is 
awfully mixed, and asseverations senseless ; at the same time, it 
is the best argument extant favoring the postulate that Christ was 
miraculously conceived; and the world must, indeed, be in its 
babyhood to accept such cob-house for a real abiding place. The 
logic, syllogistically, stands thus : 

First — Sumption God is immaculate. 

Second — Subsumption But Jesus is God. 

Ergo Jesus is immaculate . 

But the second premise, or subsumption, is false in the sense 
intended. The same false logic is applied to Mary. Pope Pius 
IX made the discovery that Jesus, in His conception and birth, 
could not be free from taint, while His Mother was tainted, and 
he decided that Mary must also have been free from taint, and so 
told one lie to cover another ; and, thus emblazoned, stands the 
false logic : 

First — Sumption The Mother of Jesus was immaculate. 

Second — Subsumption But Mary was the Mother of Jesus. 

Ergo Mary was immaculate. 

The church ratified it. The bull was published, and thereafter 
all who disputed it were accounted heretics. So there was another 
lie saddled on the church. It is true that Jesus became immacu- 
late ; but the means by which He became so are ignored by the 
whole learned world. He became so by accepting the order of 
God in John, who preceded Him, and by confessing, forsaking, 
living above, and free from all sin. And all who are to be 
redeemed, must become immaculate in the same manner. There 
is no climbing up some other way ; we must climb up the same 
way that Christ did. The dogma of the foreign origin of Christ 
was first promulgated by Cerynthus, a learned Greek scholar of 
Pome. This was a short time previous to the death of the beloved 
Apostle John, about the year 100. They met in Ephesus, where 
the former was promulgating his new doctrine of the super-angelic 
origin of Christ — that He was a high- created spirit that came 
from the Pleroma and took possession of the body of J esus at the 
baptism of John. It was at this time that the aged apostle, who 
had leaned on the bosom of Christ at the last supper, and who 
was the only one of His disciples that attended him and wit- 



Con v ert r bl e T e rms. 



L35 



nessed His crucifixion, and who had the best right to know of 
any one then living, denounced the doctrine in the most vehement 
language. 

In the first epistle to his brethren he said : " I have not written 
because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that 
no lie is the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus 
is the Christ ? He is anti-Christ." Thus the good apostle met it 
at the threshold with such testimony as should have put a quietus 
upon it for all time. But he passed away, and it was persisted in 
to escape the odium of the false accusation that the Christians 
worshiped a dead Jew. 

Thus it became engrafted on the church, and proved to be the 
entering wedge that rent the church asunder. Since which time 
the Christ subject has been classed among the mysteries. We 
are asked such, questions as these : Which is the world's Saviour, 
Jesus or Christ ? Was not Jesus a medium for the Christ spirit, 
etc.? To which I answer: First — Jesus the Christ, or, as the 
apostle has it, " The man Christ Jesus," is the Saviour of the 
saved. He cannot be the Saviour of the lost, and none are or 
can be saved except they follow Him. He calls to the world and 
says follow me, not Moses, nor John the Baptist, but me. Sec- 
ondly — He could not be the medium for the Christ spirit, because 
He was Himself the Christ or Messiah. We might as well ask : 
Was Jesus not a medium for the Messiah? The Christ spirit 
and spirit of Christ are convertible terms ; what one means the 
other means. If, by denying myself and following Christ, I have 
so far changed my spirit, temper, desires and habits as to be moved 
and actuated as Christ was, then I shall possess and have in me 
the spirit of Christ or Christ spirit — not a double entity, but 
simply have my spirit changed from the worldly to be as Christ's 
spirit was. This is clear. 

The saying of the apostle that " Jesus Christ is in you, except 
ye be reprobates," does not mean that we are to literally have the 
man Jesus, soul and body, within us. His true followers are in 
Him, and He in them, in all the works and w^alks of life — "as 
thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they may be one in us, 
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." — John xvii, 
21. This is the key to unlock the mystery about Christ being in 
us, etc. Jesus never spake of such a thing as a foreign Christ 
spirit inhabiting His person and controlling Him : but says thou, 
Father, art in me, etc. 

Christ Jesus obeyed God in always doing the things that pleased 



136 



Conception of Christ. 



the Father instead of doing His own will, and we must obey Him, 
and walk as He walked, or fail of salvation. This a child may 
understand. It seems obvious that we cannot follow a spirit 
which was created impeccable — pure, spotless and sinless, from 
some foreign world, who knows not experimentally any thing 
about our trials, lusts and divers temptations. Such angel could 
not succor us : could not know how to sympathize with us. We 
must have just such a high priest as was Christ Jesus, of whom 
the Apostle Paul says : " For we have not an high priest which 
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in 
all points tempted like as we are." — Heb. iv, 15. 

. If Christ was a foreign spirit which entered into Jesus to con- 
trol His action and speak through Him, what credit can Jesus 
have ? How did His own arm bring Him salvation ? We are 
enjoined to follow Him, and " walk as He walked." How can 
we know how a Christ from a foreign world walked ? Where He 
came from and whither He went? And, if Jesus had to be 
miraculously begotten and conceived in order to enable Him to 
obey the Father and be an example to the world, what must 
become of us who were " conceived in sin and brought forth in 
iniquity ? " To put us on grounds of capability, and enable us to 
work out our salvation as He did, we should all have been miracu- 
lously begotten and conceived. 

It were unreasonable, very, to require us who were conceived 
in sin to follow one who was u conceived by a ray of light from 
the body of God ; " or begotten by some angel sent from His 
throne for that purpose. We may rest assured that this is the 
work of the deceiver, to make us believe that we may " continue 
in sin that grace may abound" — that we cannot follow Christ, 
and must be saved by His merits. We may hug this delusion to 
our bosom, and nestle it in our heart of hearts, but sooner or 
later to our sorrow we must learn how much we have been de- 
ceived, and realize the truth of the text, that whatsoever is born 
of the flesh is flesh, and whatsoever is born of the spirit is spirit, 
and that such was the case of our Exemplar, who was first born 
of the flesh and afterward of the spirit. 

The way is now open for every sin-sick soul to enter the new 
birth and to be made a new creature ; and now is the loud call. 
The trumpet's blast from Zion's God is come, and the Father and 
Mother say come, "The Spirit and the Bride say come; and let 
him or her that is athirst come ; and whosoever will let him or 
her come and take the waters of life freely." 



ORTHODOXY AND SPIRITUALISM. 



All creedal, religions denominations consider their own to be 
orthodox and those who differ with them heterodox ; and as in 
what I propose to say to-day, no one particular profession of 
religion will be singled out, I will, for brevity's sake, use the new 
term orthodoxan, which, in this discourse, will include all religious 
professors who hold to one dogma in common, to wit : the trinity 
of the Absolute, or three Gods in one. No blame is attachable 
to any individual, nor any organized body now existing, for enter- 
taining it ; because it is a kind of spiritual heir-loom which has 
been handed down from generation to generation for fifteen hun- 
dred years. After the falling away of the primitive Christian 
church at Jerusalem, heathen rites, ceremonies and doctrines were 
introduced, among which was the dogma named above — and the 
poor, but true followers of Christ were banished. In the year 
of grace 325, Constantine, the bloody Emperor of Rome, called 
a General Council at Mce to settle the disputes that had arisen 
and establish the doctrines which were to be received by the so- 
called church. It was at this council, with about 2,000 persons 
in attendance, after much heated controversy, which lasted nearly 
three months, that this false dogma in part was forced upon the 
world ; here it was " conceived in sin and brought forth in 
inicpiity," and was full fledged in another council held at Constan- 
tinople about a half a century later. 

It was here decided that Christ was not " raised up from 
among the brethren " to be an example for them to follow accord- 
ing to the scriptures, but that He was God Himself, who had 
descended and assumed the proportions and form of man, and 
was no longer " an example that we should follow His steps." 
1 Pet. ii, 21. Here, by these bloodthirsty sinners, Christ was 
regularly installed the second person in the God-head, or God 
No. 2. After the dispersion of the Council, it was discovered 
that the Holy Ghost, who had overshadowed the Virgin at 
Christ's conception, had been sadly neglected, whereupon a dis- 
18 



138 



Orthodoxy and Spiritualism. 



cussion arose in the churches which could not be settled without 
calling another council. This God was, by some, considered to 
be feminine, and it was a question of difficult solution whose wife 
she should be, whether of the Father or of the Son — of God 
No. 1 or No. 2! 

Finally the second Council was convened at Constantinople in 
the year 381, when the Holy Ghost was installed as God No. 3, 
without regard to gender. Thus was saddled upon mankind the 
most inconsistent and impossible dogma that man could invent, 
and it has been tenderly nursed in the arms and suckled at the 
breast of the Catholic and Protestant churches from that day to 
this. These half-heathen sinners, after they got their gods 
arranged in working order, proceeded to give each one His high 
office, with distinct duties to perform. The Holy Ghost was to 
act as a kind of suavitor, or soothing sweetener between the other 
two. Christ was to be a reminder of No. 1 of His crucifixion 
and death — • a kind of interpleader for the human race, for whom 
He left His throne and became man, to redeem. As false and absurd 
as it is, even to-day your clergy, your Moody s and Sankeys, with 
their psalm-singing and swelling sobs and melting tears (them- 
selves confessedly co-sinners), implore others to come to Jesus — 
" O, come to Jesus ! " — Only believe, and save your poor souls 
from hell-fire, " where the worm dieth not and the fire is not 
quenched." — O, sinners, " to-day, if you will hear His voice 
harden not your hearts ; " " don't delay, come now." " Only 
believe, and Jesus will take you in His arms and you are safe ! " 
and much more of the same sort, fully justifying the scathing 
ridicule of the poet Burns in " Holy Willie's Prayer," which is a 
true portraiture of the effects of the acceptance of the triune 
doctrine, and of being saved by proxy. The Catholics still had 
another step to take. About twenty years ago a Council was 
called by Pope Pio Nino, when the " Returning Board " finished 
their work by introducing the fourth person into the God-head, 
and Mary, the mother of Jesus, was fairly installed. Protestants 
need not complain of this, because the thing cannot be worsted, 
and seeing there were two males there already, it were well 
to have two females also to aid in the good work of redemption ! 
But long since many became restless and dissatisfied with the 
Nicene creed, and other creeds were made with but small improve- 
ments. About the beginning of this century rents were made 
among the orthodox, and to-day they are trying to weld the 



Spiritualism Examined. 



139 



fragments together. The noted outpouring of the Spirit in the 
great Kentucky revival had much to do in breaking the creedal 
bonds with which they were fettered ; and in consequence of the 
corruption and the failure of the churches to satisfy the soul- 
cravings of mankind, thousands have left it, while many refuse 
to unite with them, and are now turning their attention to 
Spiritualism, which I now propose to examine in as succinct a 
manner as possible. 

In the year 1838, a great outpouring of Spirit power was be- 
stowed on all the societies of Shakers, with the daily visitation 
of the spirits of departed friends, who became visible to many. 
This was about ten years before something of the same character 
began in the world outside of Shakers. Hence, we are justly 
called Spiritualists. But there are two classes of Spiritualists — 
the regenerative and the generative. We are the former ; the 
Spiritualists of the outside world are the latter. These two classes 
stand on different planes. The generative stands on the same 
plane with the Orthodoxans ; and it is a question which of the 
two are nearer the kingdom of heaven. They both practice the 
same works in actual life — both, perhaps, with equally good 
intent. The orthodox hold to Christ in some shape. The spirit- 
ualists discard Him as a chosen, heavenly teacher, but weigh Him 
in the scale with moral reformers, and find Him wanting. The 
orthodox have a head to their bodies ; the spiritualists have none. 
For aught I see, the generative spiritualists must keep company 
with the generative orthodoxans in the rudimental state and on 
the lower plane, until they become willing to unite with the regen- 
erative spiritualists on the higher Christ plane. Spiritualism has 
only existed with us of the regenerative order in its highest 
phase, which is that of operating upon and using the organs of 
human beings to communicate their mind and will to us ; whereas, 
it began in the outside world by raps, and moving ponderable sub- 
stances, which still continue with them. It was but natural that 
they should rejoice in having their minds disabused by their spirit 
friends in relation to the great forged lie of the Nicene Council 
and the fear of being thrown into a hell of burning sulphur the 
moment they were released from the mortal tenement. This 
should have made them humble and thankful, but, instead, many 
of them are puffed up, boastful, lustful and proud, and do not 
seem to be nearing the Kingdom of Christ. Failing, sometimes, 
in argument, they, like the orthodoxans, depend on miracles ; 



140 



Orthodoxy and Spiritualism. 



those of the former being wrought by God, of the latter by 
spirits and hidden law, both striving to convince the world and 
bring it to believe in impossibilities. The orthodox far exceed the 
spiritualists in startling story, beginning with making a woman 
of a man's rib, and coining down to Noah's Ark, serpents from 
rods, the stationary sun and moon, the banking waters of the 
Red Sea, and hundreds more ; none of which are miraculous 
when the metaphorical language of the book in which they are 
recorded is properly understood. 

The spiritualists seem equally eager to impose on the world 
impossible things. Their bottom plank is spirit materialization 
and dematerialization, both of which are impossible. Some have 
gone so far as to marry a materialized female spirit to a male in 
the body. I presume they left off the part of the usual ceremony, 
" until death do us part." The officiating clergyman affirms that 
he had the pleasure of kissing the spirit-bride before the dema- 
terializing process commenced. The spiritualists seem to cling 
as adhesively to this impossibility as do the orthodoxans to the 
miraculous conception of Christ, both of which are equally false. 
After the oft-repeated exposures that have been made, their faith 
seems to remain unshaken. For the present it must suffice for 
me to take under examination one of their most noted and reliable 
mediums, viz. : Cora V. Richmond, whose inspirations in the year 
1875, while under the control of the spirit of Prof. Mapes, were 
in accordance with truth on this subject. 

The Professor then said : " I now retract all my former theory 
on this subject. I find spirit to be in itself an essence, which by 
no possibility of combination in matter can either be material or 
created. In my reasoning I shall take the basis of the non-spir- 
ituality of atoms." And of spirit-forms he says : " Do not mistake 
these forms for the actual spirit forms of your friends ; they are 
neither composed of the same substance nor in any way constructed 
as is the spirit in the spirit-land, etc." Here, by one of the most 
reliable instruments now living, the possibility of materialization 
is flatly denied, and also the real appearance of spirit friends to 
the normal eye. This is most undoubtedly true. We also have 
corroborating testimony from Brother Peebles, who has carried 
the spiritual flag around the globe, and who, when he was visited 
by the spirit of Aaron Knight, he, (Brother P.) supposing he 
was materialized, remarked to the spirit : " How strange it was 
that he was so materialized." But the spirit answered and said : 



Spirit Yitalization. 



" Not so much materialized as thou art spiritualized." What 
must we now think of Sister Cora, two years later, speaking for 
another spirit and making the following declaration : " Facts are 
better than hypotheses. Spirit materializations do occur ; they 
take on every appearance of human beings ; are created for a 
time and disposed of at the end of a given time. They come out of 
seemingly nothing, and disappear again into nothingness, except 
where by special permission, some piece of raiment or lock of 
hair is retained as a souvenir of the materialization." Now, 
which is to be believed — the former or the latter declaration ? 
Both cannot be true. That the latter cannot be true admits of easy 
proof. If spirit is a different substance and distinct from matter, 
as the former statement avers, they are contradictory. If they 
are contradictory they can neither tactualize nor blend ; neither 
can one become the other. On the other hand, if spirit is not a 
distinct substance from matter, then Grod is matter, for God is 
spirit. This, the most thorough-going spiritualist will not deny, 
and, being unable to deny it, the whole spirit-materializing theory 
falls lifeless to the ground — dead, dead, dead, asserted facts to 
the contrary notwithstanding ; and thus philosophically and log- 
ically failing renders it certain that any declared materialization 
of spirits is a deception or fraud, or else the asserter, being 
conditioned, supposed the spirit was materialized when it was not. 
This will hold good in the face of millions who may suppose they 
have seen spirits with the normal eye. But if they really do see 
objects with the normal eye, supposed to be spirits, they may 
know it is a fraud. So I fear not to affirm that no person now 
on earth, or that ever was on earth, ever saw or ever will see a 
spirit with the normal eye. The contrary assertion is as gross a 
blunder in the generative spiritualists as that of the orthodoxans 
in claiming the possibility of the infinite becoming finite ; so they 
should cease their boasting until they get on more solid ground. 
Impossibilities cannot be made possible by any metamorphosing, 
although millions may believe. But the spirit, through the me- 
dium, goes on to inform us that " spirit is the vitalizing substance 
of the universe, man included." This spirit vitalization of mat- 
ter contradicts spirit materialization because it vitalizes something 
besides itself. The spirit continues : " Spirit is not the outgrowth 
of matter, but matter is deducible from spirit." To help out 
materialization, the editor of the Banner of Light steps in and 
says : " Atom is the ne plus ultra of divisibility and because we 



142 



Orthodoxy and Spiritualism. 



have no term for the divisibility of matter, we have a right to 
predicate non-materiality of matter." This is a sheer assump- 
tion ; because we have no name for its condition, we have no 
logical right to postulate a judgment which supposes it to have 
changed its properties and assumed others. This is reducing logic 
to a point the consistency of which can neither be discerned by 
the natural nor spiritual eye ; but to such extremes persons are 
always driven who hold a position which they are determined to 
prove to be true. Locke says we should not even wish a thing 
to be true until we have proven it to be so. We can have no 
conception of the ne plus ultra matter, any more than that of 
space. But the spirit further instructs us through Sister Cora : 
" By the spirit's presence atoms are attracted and food is assimi- 
lated. The spirit, separate from the body, is alive, has veins and 
arteries of etherealized substances, and it only takes one or two 
grades more of material to make the spirit form palpable to the 
senses ; hence this is the process of materialization." That is to 
say, the spirit, separate from the body, has material veins and 
arteries, and, with a trifle more of matter added, spirit materiali- 
zation is accomplished ! ! Should we not be thankful for this in- 
formation ? 

But the spirit sayeth further : " This matter which is added 
to the spirit is gathered from the medium and those surrounding 
him or her, who give off what is known as psychic force, or nerve 
aura, which the spirit attracts to itself." Now psychic force is 
mind force, and nerve aura is dead matter discharged from the 
nervous system ; the two are not identical. But it goes on to say 
that " books, jewels, solid iron rings and human beings have 
passed through solid substances, into and out of rooms without any 
visible apertures. The inverse of the process to materialize enables 
the spirit to dematerialize." Of course, were one possible the 
other would be also. To dematerialize is to remove or take away 
from an object all the matter it contains. When this is done 
that which is left passes through the solid door. In the case of 
the iron ring and such like things there is nothing left — then 
nothing passes through the door. But it is insinuated that the 
matter somehow follows, and is again formed into a solid ring on 
the other side of the door. It is then said the solid ring went 
through the solid door. Such is the mode of dematerialization ! One 
can hardly treat such reasoning seriously. This puts to blush all 
the occult magic of China and the East Indies. After trying to fool 



Effects of Spirit Influence. 



14:5 



mortals into tlie belief of such stuff, the spirit then coolly informs 
us " that we must remember that between our ignorance and their 
knowledge there is a vast step." This is cool, indeed. ' They 
must show better reasoning than that offered, or we will feel 
bound to transpose the sentence. But I am asked : How are we 
to account for these appearances if they are false and unreal ? I 
have not so pronounced them. This has been already answered in 
part. I entertain no doubt but that spirits do appear and converse 
with mortals ; but in all such cases the change is in the mortal, 
not in the appearing spirit. Such mortals are conditioned by in- 
terpenetrating spirit influence, so as to enable them to see, hear, 
and feel spirits, spirifoially, but which, at the time, may seem to 
them to be natural. Perhaps some would be pleased to be in- 
formed whether I ever had any experience in that line — to which 
I will simply answer affirmatively, although at the time I thought 
I was in a normal condition ; but after it passed by, my reason 
taught me better. To admit the possibility of the interchange of 
spirit and matter would be fatal to all religion, all pure spirituality, 
and to the idea of the existence of an infinite, all pervading, om- 
nipresent spirit, imminent in all worlds, and places at all times. 
Hence it would be wisdom in all spiritualists of both orders to 
abandon the idea at once and forever ; as every phenomenon per- 
taining to it can be as satisfactorily explained without its admis- 
sion as with it. 



TYNDALL CEITICISED. 



The saying that the brave are always generous may be fittingly 
applied to the illustrious Tyndall — brave, fearless, candid. The 
excerpts given us of his eloquent inaugural, delivered before the 
British Association at Belfast, Ireland, are like meteor flashes 
from among the stars — a grand pyrotechnic of richly-worded, well- 
weighed, and nicely-rounded phrases. It is the first time in the 
world? & history that an association of that magnitude and 
materialistic tendency could dare to stand up in open day and 
ooldly ash the religions of the world to " stand from under " — 
get out of its way — so bold and daring, that religion's arm seems 
palsied, and her votaries stand aghast, terror stricken. 

I do not accuse all the members of that body of being 
materialists ; but the general tendency seems to be in that direc- 
tion, as I think, can be shown from the address of their President. 
Enough is given to attract the attention of the thoughtful, and to 
show the materialistic, not to say the baneful, tendency of that 
learned body of aggressives. 

Attached to this Association are some of the strongest, ablest, 
clearest-headed and far-searching minds of Europe, if not of the 
world ; and any thing done by it cannot fail to make its impression 
on the world of mind, and must have its effect for weal or woe for 
generations to come. But no man nor party should become so 
popular and powerful that their acts and sayings should go 
unquestioned. It seems that the Professor not only strove to 
steer clear of every thing spiritual, lest he might fall into dream- 
land and find nothing real, but proceeded to span the universe 
with a bridge of solid matter, and then walk majestically over it ; 
thence plunge out into a world of atoms and " polar molecules,'' 
and go back on the atoms until the atoms should give out, while 
he finds nothing beyond ! Unlike a contemporary of his, who. 
at the point where the atoms were lost, discovered God, mind, 
and law, above nature itself ; but the Professor turns upon his 
heel and proclaims that in matter " the power of every form and 



Scientific Investigation. 



145 



equality of life is found." His first step in this direction is to 
exclude the " crude beliefs in the power of supernatural beings," 
then speak concessively of the Empedocles theory of the existence 
of love and hate among the atoms, and of the hypothesis that 
animals are automatic, thus excluding even instinct, and making 
them mere walking machines in the great arcana of things 

o o o 

natural, contravening Pope and many other able writers who : 

" Place reason over instinct as best yon can, 
In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man." 

Tyndall further says : " Scientific searchers, freed and released 
from the caprice of super-sensual beings, sought to place absolute 
reliance on law and nature." How nature came by law remains 
a trifle beclouded ; but this, he informs us, is the " beginning of 
scientific investigation — the first break from the supernatural to a 
reliance on the facts of nature." And finally, like the honest, 
brave and daring man that he is, he comes squarely to the work 
and says : li Abandoning all disguise, the confession I feel bound 
to make before you is, that I prolong the vision backward across 
the boundary of experimental evidence, and discern in that matter 
(which we in our ignorance, and notwithstanding our professed 
reverence, for its Creator), have hitherto covered with opprobrium 
— the promise and potency of every form and equality of life." 
This seems to have been spoken with some hesitancy. A shade 
of gossamer covers its face ; but, when laid bare, it becomes 
alarming — all sweeping. The opprobrium once removed, matter 
becomes an object of reverence, in whicli is found the power of 
every form of life — psychical, spiritual, instinctive, and physical ! 
Ah ! what a mistake hast thou made, thou Christ ! Ah, Paul, 
what a blunder ! It is no more " in God we live and move and 
have our being," but in matter. The Professor verifies my con- 
struction by adding : " The human understanding itself is the 
result of the play between organism and environment, through 
cosmical ranges of time." 

Beautifully spoken ; but where is the proof ? What kind of 
play ? What ]g this but saying that the faculty within us that 
knows, that embodies our knowledge — the thinking, reflecting 
ego — is originated and brought into being by the play between 
our physical organism, and the matter which surrounds it ? He 
Cannot mean any thing more subtile than matter, for this might 
be inside as well as playing around ; if so, it would be God Him- 
self. 

19 



146 



Tyndall Criticised. 



I. The power of the life of the physical being he finds in mat- 
ter. 

II. The knowing faculty is brought into being by a play between 
the matter, created being and surrounding matter ; but how the 
play is gotten up, we are left to conjecture. One essential is 
sadly wanting, and that is, proof. Feuerbach nor Comte can go 
farther than this. The former gives an apparently plausible the- 
sis, how the soul, if there is any, dies with the body, forgetting 
that a machine can wear out and be unable to move, while the 
power that was wont to move it may still exist. The latter has 
based his positive philosophy on propositions which themselves 
demand proof, declaring nothing to be real that is not cognizable 
to one or more of the five senses; when, were I asked to point 
out definitely the meaning of the word unreal, I could not do it 
much more truly than to say material existences, as any of these 
can be made uncognizable to the five senses. It were more rea- 
sonable to conclude that the solids underlie these ever-changing, 
shifting, vanishing existences, that seem to exist to-day and to- 
morrow are not, than the contrary. Locke's reasoning here is to 
the point : " Matter is not one individual thing ; neither is there 
any such thing as one material being ; but an infinite number of 
eternal cogitative beings, independent of one another, of limited 
force and distinct thoughts, which could never produce that order, 
harmony and beauty which are to be found in nature. Since, 
therefore, whatsoever is the first eternal being must be cogitative, 
and whosoever is first in all things must necessarily contain in it, 
and actually have, at least, all the perfections that can ever after 
exist, nor can it give to another any perfection it hath not actually 
in itself, or at least in a higher degree — it necessarily follows that 
the first eternal being cannot be matter. Unthinking particles 
of matter, however put together, can have nothing thereby added 
to them but a new relation of position, which it is impossible 
should give thought and knowledge to them." 

It is not at all strange that religion comes in for a castigation 
at the hands of physical science, because she forsook her high 
domain and obtruded herself on forbidden ground into the sciences 
of natural things. Science soon proved her to be in error, and, 
having done so, led her to doubt the whole. Christ, our exemplar 
and founder of the true religion, did not so. He left physics to 
fight physics, and betook himself to the realm spiritual and there 
remained — where all his true followers do to this day. Beligion 



Religion's Spiieke. 



147 



must remain in the realm of spirit ; but if she descends there- 
from to the physical, as the Professor says, she must submit. 
Having made this blunder, and substituted in its stead, " School 
Philosophy and Verbal Wastes," she is fast becoming the 
laughing-stock of the world ; for we now find more than a thou- 
sand creeds and forms, all at variance, while no two truths can by 
any possibility disagree. It is, therefore, impossible that there be 
more than one right way. When the right way is found — and 
it can be found — it will not consist of ceremony and mystic be- 
lief, but one whose adherents live in their daily walk and conver- 
sation the holy life of Christ their exemplar. 

"His cau't be wrong whose life is in the right." 

It is undoubtedly true, that " spiritual longings did put a check 
on physical science for two thousand years ; which longings the 
Christian religion and the Scriptures in part satisfied." The 
simple reason for this was, because neither matter nor physical 
science contains the elements to satisfy the soul's demands, but 
having committed the error before mentioned, it lost the spirit 
and substituted the "school philosophy." The world became 
word-weary, and thus gave physical science the opportunity to 
claim the upper seat. But the liberal and truthful Spencer says, 
after all, " there is a measure of truth underlying all creeds and 
systems of religion." These truths it becomes science not to ig- 
nore. 

The Professor next turns to Darwin, and out-Darwin's Dar- 
w T in himself. But why should this savant speak all the while of 
physical science as though there were no other? Religion has its 
science as well as physics. To ask religion to step out of the way 
of science is like asking science to get out of the way of science. 
There can be no conflict between the truths of each. As far as 
I am able to go back " across the boundary of the experimental 
evidence," the science of religion has the honor of the. first record. 
Witness the metaphorical language used in stating the correspond- 
ing condition of the first pair of our species — not the first of the 
race, but the first pair — the first that were paired off from pro- 
miscuous Adam to lead a higher life and restrain their passions. 
This shows that here spiritual science had its beginning ; and, most 
of the time since, the spiritual longings of the race have kept re- 
ligion of some sort " in the van." 



148 



Tyndall Criticised. 



Inasmuch as mind is greater than matter, and cannot be fully 
satisfied with material things, the whole world will reverse the 
command of the Professor, and say to physical science : " Keep 
your place. As long as souls aspire Godward, the purely material 
must get out of the way." The Professor has undertaken too 
much, and already seems to tremble under the load. History 
shows that all material triumphs have been of short duration ; but 
should materialism now triumph under its brave and gallant 
leader, it cannot be long before it will be found inadequate to the 
wants and longings of the soul, when an enthusiastic rising will 
occur, and again scatter it in fragments to the four winds of 
heaven. At length he admits the grand question of the hour is 
to satisfy the internal, emotional, soul-feeling of mankind. This, 
the highest physical science can never do. The panacea for the 
soul's ills is only to be found in the plane above — the spiritual. 

The Professor gives the impregnable position of science thus : 
" All religious theories which embrace notions of cosmogeny, or 
reach into its domain, must in so far submit to science." This is 
true. But as far as the cosmogeny of the universe is concerned 
— the creation of matter and generation of worlds — all science 
may as well keep quiet. As far as we are able to see, it is as 
impossible for God to create something of nothing as it is for 
man to do so ; and as far as we can see, matter is as indestructible 
as mind ; and as to our real knowledge of the former it is quite as 
limited as of the latter. The term creation is used as correctly 
when meaning change, mold, form, etc., as to create something 
out of nothing. The former is, I think, the Bible signification 
and use. Physical science has proven to a demonstration the 
existence of man on this planet thousands of years prior to the 
creation of the Adam and Eve of Genesis ; but still, if the meta- 
phor is understood, the Bible and science do not conflict. The 
term Adam, like our word man, means both a man and mankind. 
And " God formed Adam of the dust of the ground." What 
ground ? The ground that the race then stood on was animal 
groimd — animal promiscuity and generation. From the dust of 
this ground, Adam, or an Adamite was taken, and raised to a 
higher plane— made a man of instead of animal — and while Adam 
— Adamkind — slept, a rib, binder or woman, was taken and made 
a new woman for a helpmeet for Adam, to govern and restrain 
the animal and lead a new life. They were inspired by .the 
Creator, or changer, and breathed in the breath of (the new) life. 



Adam's Fall — Christ's Resurrection. 149 

Thus they were the first created, doing no violence to scientific 
truth. But they failed to keep their high estate, fell victims to 
their passions, lost their rectitude, and on that day died to the 
spiritual life into which they had been elevated ; and this was the 
fall of man. 

Why, the very resurrection that Christ spake of was to rise 
above and relieve ourselves from the preponderating influence of 
matter, or material things, and the lawless sensualities of the 
generative life ; and the soul that is bound by them has never 
tasted true liberty, and knows not what it is to be free. 

The Professor condemns Buckle, who sought to detach intel- 
lectual achievement from moral force ; and says he gravely erred. 
But may he not be in error here % As I understand it, intellect- 
ual and moral force are distinct. There can be great intellectual 
achievements void of morality, and vice versa. God, in the 
infinite sense, is not an intellectual being. Intellect implies the 
necessity to think and reason, in order to understand and reach 
conclusions. God is not under this necessity. 

At last, and finally, the Professor (we give him thanks) con- 
descends to meet us halfway and says: "I would set forth 
equally the inexorable advance of man's understanding and the 
unquenchable claims of his emotional (why not say spiritual ? ) 
nature. Then, if freed from intolerance and bigotry, in opposi- 
tion to all the restrictions of materialism, I would affirm this to 
be a field of the noblest exercise of what may be called the 
creative faculties of man." Yerily, John Tyndall, " thou art not 
far from the kingdom of heaven." 

But here our honest-hearted and brave friend finds himself in 
water too deep for the length of his line, and excites our sym- 
pathy, for really his knowledge of matter is nearly as limited as 
that of mind. The former he puts into his crucible, and tries 
matter with matter ; he forces it to change position and relation ; 
gives names to the parts; gases escape, cinders remain, are ex- 
amined and thrown away in despair, not knowing its generation 
and what it really is ; and were he not a philosopher his very 
ignorance would run him mad. Whilst the ego continues to 
reassert itself in every thought — demands and compels recogni- 
tion — complains of the material bondage to which we willfully 
subject it — we plod along, ignorantly mistaking the shadow for 
the substance, until in God's crucible the spirit is relieved, and 



150 



Tyndall Criticised. 



called to " give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether 
they be good or whether they be evil." Then if the spirit finds 
itself not in harmony with the power that caused it to exist, this 
will be its hell. Now, whether spirit or matter should most 
engross our attention, every reader for himself or herself must 
judge. 



CRITICISM UPON DR. MCCOSH. 

"THE POWER BEHIND NATURE." 



The great mistake in the oft-repeatecl assertion that " religion 
has been the cause of more bloodshed and misery to the human 
race than all other causes combined " consists in the misapplica- 
tion of the term. Religion, jper se, is non-resistant, with which 
false religion antagonizes, as falsehood does with truth. Here is 
where the misery comes in ; and no religion can be called true 
which forms a connecting link and affiliates with the passional 
nature of man, instead of governing and controlling it. Men 
not being equally unfolded, see not alike, and from misconcep- 
tions on the part of either come the clash of arms. The first 
recorded instance, baptized in blood, was between a shepherd and 
ground-tiller — one supposing that God preferred mutton chops 
to garden sauce — and ever since that eventful period, misconcep- 
tions about the mind of God, equally futile, have arisen among 
men, dividing them into factions, causing angry words and bitter 
strifes, not unf requently ending in bloodshed, even up to the pres- 
ent hour. Among all controversialists, the religiously creed- 
bound seem the least able to lay themselves open to receive plain, 
unvarnished truth. I say this, although a religionist myself, and 
am led to make the assertion at this time by noticing the annual 
address of Dr. McCosh to the senior class of college students at 
Trenton, N*. J., in which he took occasion to contravene the doc- 
trines enunciated by Prof. Tyndall, President of the British 
Association of Belfast, Ireland, whose discourse I have endeav- 
ored to lay on the executioner's block. 

The Doctor begins by a kind of counter-trenching in a "hide 
and seek " manner, and manceuvers like a certain general, whose 
forces, inferior to those of his adversary — were kept marching 
and countermarching, revealing and concealing themselves, until 
the enemy would so over-estimate his forces as to yield without 
resistance. His forces must have appeared great to the class, as 
the feat was pronounced " masterly.' 1 It was in bad taste, if noth- 



152 



The Power behind Nature. 



ing more, for the Doctor to underrate his antagonist, and attach 
ignorance to one of the most learned and highly gifted men of 
the age, as Tyndall surely is. We all live in glass houses, and 
should be careful how we throw stones. " The man," says Locke, 
" who undertakes to reason must not be in love with any opinion, 
nor wish it to be true, until he knows it to be so. Keep a perfect 
indifference to all opinions and not wish any of them to be true, 
lest the wish make them appear so." This advice could not have 
been kept in view by Dr. McCosh, as it is evident he " had an ax 
to grind," which proved to be the defense of a personal Deity ; 
and this it was that caused him to deviate from the line of fair, 
outspoken reason, which shines so conspicuously in his rival. 

It is a question which of the two discourses, if received entirely 
for truth, would be the most baneful to society. The Doctor, while 
accusing Tyndall of deception and ingenious disguises, is like the 
man who dug a pit for his neighbor and fell into it himself. 
Nevertheless, his accusation seems to be, in part, justifiable, as 
Tyndall has named philosophers who yield him at best but a 
meagre support. Tyndall makes Bruno a prominent figure, who 
uttered the following : " The highest contemplation which trans- 
cends nature is impossible and null to him who is without belief ; 
for we obtain this by supernatural, not natural light, and such 
light they have not who hold all things to be corporeal." 

But I cannot see that he attempted to " make us believe that 
all agreed with him ; while the Doctor begins six hundred years 
before Christ (might have begun one thousand years) excluding 
only the Brahmins, accepts the Buddhists and appropriates to him- 
self all the philosophers of the last twenty-five thousand years ; 
while, outside of creeddom, none yield him a cordial, and I might 
say even a meagre support. This was a great mistake in the Doctor, 
if mistake it was, for most assuredly, of this class, Tyndall's 
forces greatly outnumbered his, but neither of them has a right 
to the claim set up. 

The Doctor speaks truly when he says : " All the leading phil- 
osophers persisted in claiming the existence of some intelligent, 
designing cause back of nature." The Brahmins did the same ; but 
none, except the religiously creed-bound, agree with the Doctor 
in calling it personal. The man who insists on a personal infinite 
Being should never appeal to science nor philosophy to find sup- 
port. But how the Doctor should exclude the Brahmins and accept 
the Buddhists I am at a loss to know. It is true the Brahmins 



Anti-Christian Doctrines. 153 

were the more sensual, but both held to the principal doctrine of 
the Vedas ; the Buddhists differing only in two essential points — 
that of abolishing caste and a privileged priesthood, and that of 
establishing celibacy. Both had their trinity of Gods, who were 
active, subordinate agents, governed by an invisible cause — or as 
Spencer would say, " unthinkable and unknowable," from whence 
all things sprung. The Brahmins thus express it : " There is 
one living and true God, everlasting, without parts or passions, 
of infinite power, wisdom and goodness ; the Maker and preserver 
of all things, incomprehensible, illuminates all, overspreads all 
creatures — spirit without form, self-existent, pure, perfect, omnis- 
cient, and omnipresent." This is also Buddhist doctrine ; and 
with all their follies, vagaries, and apparently senseless cere- 
monies, they were more consistent in their belief than the pro- 
fessors of the religions of to-day generally are, who claim God to 
be three distinct persons, with distinct offices, who, whilst acting 
separately, are finite, but taken collectively are infinite — thus out- 
raging philosophy, which they claim for support, and the Pytha- 
gorean science of numbers — absolute truth and common sense — 
all to support a man-made creed ! And they, like the Buddhists, 
believe in the efficacy of sprinkling babies and baptizing in water 
to wash away sin, whilst it only reaches the surface, and at best, 
was but a type of that Christ baptism of Spiritual fire that reaches 
the heart. We are next referred to Confucius, who taught, " one 
invisible being, first cause, original principle," and then to 
Zoroaster, who believed in " one supreme essence, invisible, in- 
comprehensible." We are then taken to Greece, where the Doctor 
can find no support, only a stray shot here and there. Orpheus, 
an early teacher, held that " One invisible God, unknown, prior 
to all beings, contained within himself the germ of all things." 
Thales the same ; and Pythagoras, to whom we are especially 
cited, taught the very reverse of a personal, infinite God. He 
says : " There is one universal soul diffused through all things, 
eternal, invisible, unchangeable, etc. ; " and the Sicilian Empedo- 
cles was his pupil and follower. Anaxagoras was supposed to be 
the first Greek who separated mind from matter ; those before 
him, that combined them in unity, support Tyndall. But this 
separation cannot reasonably be construed into a personal deity. 
Socrates and Plato both taught the " unchangeability and omni- 
presence of Deity, without beginning or ending." Aristotle the 
same — ".God a spiritual substance, without extension, succession 
20 



154: 



The Power behixd Nature. 



or division of parts." On and on we may go, turning in vain 
the leaves of history to find support for a personal, infinite exist- 
ence. The Stoics, founded by Zeno, Spencer says, " reduced 
philosophy to little else than the right way of living." Sensible 
Stoics. To the Germans we look in vain. The Celts and 
Teutons " believed in the existence of one Supreme Being, by 
whom the whole universe was animated, a portion of whom re- 
sided in all things." 

And the Romans adopted the religious doctrines and customs 
of Greece with but little modification ; while the same may be 
said of modern as of ancient philosophers, and I see no justifica- 
tion in the Doctor laying claim to them. It is clearly evident that 
he is guilty of the crime with which he accused Tyndall ; that is, of 
appropriating to himself that to which he had no right. He in- 
tended his class and the world to believe that all the great philoso- 
phers of the last twenty-five thousand years supported his idea of 
a personal, infinite first cause. He introduces early into his dis- 
course, that what the " Buddhists, Confucius and Greek philoso- 
phers taught had the tendency to secure a steady progress up to 
that one controlling, intelligent, personal first cause." The Doctor 
seems to favor the doctrine of " evolution," and supposes that it 
can be reconciled with scripture, while Tyndall proposes to aban- 
don the one or the other — the creative or the evolution theory. 
The Doctor's implication of evolution, as something to be " evolved 
from," seems to be overstrained ; for, wherever admitted, it spoils 
the creative. The flower unrolls its own leaves and unfolds its 
petals. The animal evolved from the egg was itself the egg. 
The power behind it causing the evolution is Spencer's Un- 
knowable, which Tyndall himself acknowledges to be God in the 
following significant words : " In fact, the whole process of evo- 
lution is the manifestation of a power absolutely inscrutable to 
the intellect of man ; as little in our day as in the days of Job, 
can man by searching find this power out." And then adds : 
" You will observe no very rank materialism here." Better stick 
to the creative, Doctor, as you must see you can get no help from 
evolution. But the Doctor himself comes to TyndalPs assistance 
when referring to the heavenly bodies and crystals seen in plants, 
by saying : " Whatever the original forms were, they arrange 
themselves according to definite laws." This is evolution " with 
a vengeance." The sneer at Tyndall for thinking the first form 
was an atom seems misplaced, for most certainly the first phe- 



Infinite Intelligence. 



155 



nomenal form was an atom or atoms — if not, what was it ? He 
next speaks of intelligence, and says : " Tyndall refers to some 
illustrious man who said he would be miserable without a belief 
in a personal intelligence back of nature," and adds " that he 
would like to know who this illustrious man is, since such belief 
is spontaneous in every reflecting person since Socrates." In reply 
to this, I would say that reflecting persons, outside of religious 
circles, who do believe it are indeed very few, and there is no wonder 
Tyndall was surprised at finding one. Socrates himself did not 
believe it. Locke, Pope, Mill, Spencer and a host of others, 
almost without number, may be included in the unbelieving cate- 
gory. All, I might say, of the deepest thinkers the world has 
produced believe that infinite intelligence, omniscient and omni- 
present spirit, force or energy, pervades all matter in all worlds 
— " inhabiting eternity " — " filling immensity " — "unthinkable 
and unknowable " in his entirety and wholeness. It is far more 
impossible for finite man to comprehend the infinite than it is for 
a dove to swallow this planet. If, with our present personal pro- 
portion, and all the knowledge we now possess, we could increase 
to the size of this earth, and our knowledge increase in the same 
ratio, and on until we reached the proportion of the sun, and still 
on to that of Sirius, which is two thousand times larger than the 
sun (by which time we should be in possession of considerable 
knowledge, as well as bulk, perhaps nearly as large as the Doctor's 
personal, infinite God,) still we would then seem to be as far from 
comprehending the Infinite as we now are, and would doubtless 
feel less conceit of ever becoming able to do so. Yet, notwith- 
standing our ignorance, we feel a certitude that " He is as perfect 
in a hair as heart," and, as Spencer says, " cannot help knowing 
He exists " and unfolds in every thing, however minute. He 
sounds in the thunder, burns in the fire, shines in the sun's rays, 
" glistens in the stars as well as in the baby's eyes," and blushes 
in the maiden's cheek ; jabbers in the monkey, sings in the mock- 
ing-bird, squalls in the peacock, and flowers in his tail. This 
being conceded, it logically follows that he speaks and acts in 
every mortal when the passions are governed and His attributes 
alone prevail. But, having delegated to man freedom of thought 
and action, it follows that God does not prompt his evil thoughts, 
words and deeds. So that, between the Doctor and Tyndall, their 
relations with Deity (all mere professions aside) depend entirely 
on which of the two best control their passions, and are most 



156 



The Power behind Nature. 



moved in what they say or do by God's attributes. This cannot be 
gain say ed by religion nor philosophy. The Doctor goes on to say : 
"It is far easier to prove that there is a personal God, infinitely 
wise and good, than to prove that insensate atoms are the source 
of the systematic order of the world, as well as life, reason and 
conscience." This is exactly what we wish the Doctor to prove : 
First, how a person with limited mind can have unlimited attrib- 
utes ; and, secondly, how a personal God can be infinite ; or, in 
other words, how fmity can be infinity ? This would be equal to 
proving the same thing to be and not to be at the same time, 
which Locke says is " impossible with God." And thirdly, prove 
that atoms are insensate. For the absolute proof of these I would 
very willingly traverse this planet from center to circumference 
to find the book containmo; the arguments, and feel that I had 
obtained the knowledge cheaply enough. I freely admit the Doctor 
has reasonable grounds for saying that atoms are insensate ; but 
who can tell me why the particles of matter adhere to and form 
my finger in its present shape ? JSfot a man on earth can tell me, 
so very ignorant we all are ; still we strut, put on airs, and talk 
about our knowledge. In its present connection, the Doctor will 
admit there is life and sensation in the finger ; but amputate it — 
then, as far as we know, it becomes insensate ; but how can we 
prove that the particles are not sensate in a different relation '? 
"Whether they are, or are not, is beyond our powers of demonstra- 
tion. But, just here, it were sheerest folly in religion not to 
submit to physical science. 

Materialists proceed in the same line of reasoning (though not 
with the same ground) to prove their position that we do to prove 
the infinity of space. A certain portion of space being cogniza- 
ble to us, we have nothing to hinder the belief that it extends 
endlessly beyond our powers of cognition. Just so it is with 
animal or atomic life ; we see so far with the naked eye, and 
might suppose it ended there, but, by artificial means, are made 
to know that we eat, drink and breathe living creatures, unrecog- 
nizable to the senses, every day of our lives. It is not then so 
very strange that materialists have come to the conclusion that 
life in matter extends also to infinity, and hold that they have 
proved infinite life in matter by the same line of reasoning that 
we prove infinite space. But the two are hardly comparable, as 
one is phenomenal and the other is not. That there is attraction 
and repulsion in atoms cannot well be disputed ; and beginning 



The World's Ideal. 



157 



with man, but not ending with him, and going down to animal, 
insect and molecule, we mid the greatest attraction to be that of 
sex, governed by the law of affinity for the propagation of its 
kind. But the Doctor — we pity him — " hath not where to lay his 
head" in the domain of logic, philosophy nor sound reason. 
Starting with a contradiction, there is no possibility of finding a 
spot for reconciliation. The great thinkers disagree with both the 
Doctor and materialists ; for behind all matter, whether insensate or 
living, they find infinite intelligent power, all-controlling, inscru- 
table God, but not a personal God. When the Doctor speaks of the 
God of the Bible, he should use the plural form and say, Gods of 
the Bible, as every careful reader cannot fail torecogDize the fact- 
that the Bible speaks of God in two senses — the infinite and 
finite, or subordinate sense. Whenever God is spoken of as leav- 
ing one place and going to another, changing his mind and pur- 
pose, or of becoming angry, wrathful or passionate, it must be 
understood in the subordinate sense, as that of a godly man or 
angel; but spoken of as " All and in all," it is then to be under- 
stood in the infinite sense. 

Now, to sum up the whole matter, let us draw a short contrast 
between the three classes that represent the world's ideal with 
three representative living men — Henry Longueville Mansel, 
on the side of a personal infinite God; John Ernest Kenan, of 
the impersonal, agreeing with J. Stuart Mill, Spencer, and 
others ; and Prof. John Tyndall ; also Feuerbach, Comte, and 
others of the materialistic faith — and point out in brief what we 
suppose to be the mistakes of each. The first — Mansel — a pupil 
of Sir Wni. Hamilton, has, in my view, given the most ingenious 
and the strongest argument that has come to my knowledge, in 
favor of a personal first cause. His strongest position is a nega 
tive argument, and so strong is it that it will doubtless lead many 
astray. He draws a distinction between the Absolute and Eela- 
tive, and argues that God must be either one or the other, over- 
looking the fact that in a certain sense He may be both ; but the 
argument is, that God must be in relation with the universe and 
man, or be out of it. If in relation, He cannot be out of it ; there- 
fore, not absolute ; hence, personal. If out of relation and ab- 
solute, He would then have no connection with the phenomena of 
the universe ; hence, could not exist as first cause, and therefore 
would be a useless Deity. Taking his sense of the use of terms, 
his arguments would seem conclusive ; but passing under Mill's 



158 



The Power behind Nature. 



critical eye, they vanish, as this critic pronounces it, one long 
" ignoratio ElencM." But Mill's mistake is in calling Mansel 
ignorant, when, with the same creed and cause to defend, Mill 
could not have done better himself. Mansel is a terse and cogent 
reason er; but his cause was bad, and he found it so on taking the 
affirmative, when he despondingly relinquished the contest, say- 
ing : " We are bound to believe God to be intinite (that is, im- 
personal), but we must think of Him as personal," (that is finite), 
and, as the " think " and the " belief" are contraries, his affirma- 
tion is, that we are bound to believe a contradiction, as it is im- 
possible for us to believe a proposition to be true and then think 
the contrary is true. So we see to what absurd conclusions in- 
telligent minds are driven, while striving to support a false 
theory. He had better have heeded the words of Penan, who 
said : " The most eloquent language that can be used on this 
subject is silence." But, secondly, Renan, having been accused 
of atheism, was forced to declare Ms belief as follows : " For 
myself, I believe that true providence is not distinct from the 
order so constant, divine, perfectly wise, just and good which 
reigns in the universe. Against atheism I strongly protest; such 
(my) doctrine is only the exclusion of a capricious God, acting by 
fits and starts, allowing the clouds generally to follow their course? 
but making them deviate when prayed to do so ; leaving a lung 
to decompose to a certain point, but staying decomposition when 
a vow is made — changing his mind — in a word, according to his 
views of interest ; and, should the saddest consequences result 
therefrom, the absolute sincerity, of which we make profession, 
obliges us to say so." Again he says : " Men who really have 
a fruitful sentiment of God have never put the questions in a 
contradictory way ; they have been neither Deists after the 
manner of the French school, nor Pantheists. They have not lost 
themselves in those subtle questions. They have powerfully felt 
God. They have lived in Him. They have not defined Him. 
Jesus occupies an exceptional rank in this divine phalanx." These 
are clearly the sentiments of an honest heart, that fears not truth. 
But his and Tyndall's mistake is in ignoring the efficacy of 
prayer in the phenomenal as well as spiritual. They see clearly 
that there can be no retro-action in an infinite existence ; hence, 
they take it for granted that prayers touching phenomena are 
useless and unavailing. Hear a simple anecdote : A father says 
to his little four-year-old, " Charlie, my son, it is bed-time ; go to 



The Efficacy of Prayer. 



159 



your room, but, before retiring, don't forget to kneel down and 
ask God, your heavenly Father, to bless you and to give you 
whatever you need." Charlie kissed his pa, and did as he was 
told ; got on his knees, folded his hands, and, in much sincerity 
and faith, with upturned face, said aloud : " O God, my heavenly 
Father, will you please bless me, and give me a drum % " The 
father heard the prayer, and next morning the drum was forth- 
coming. Now the question is : Did God answer the prayer ? 
I answer affirmatively. If God's attributes of goodness, love, 
and mercy overcame the man's cupidity, avarice, and selfishness, 
and caused him to get the drum, then what the father did, God 
did ; theref ore God answered the child's prayer. What this class 
of thinkers have overlooked is this : That whenever a prayer 
reaches the attributes of Deity, whether in man or angel, it 
reaches the ear of God in a retro-active agent, who, inspired by 
God in them, is thus sent to your relief. Therefore, God comes 
to your relief in answer to prayer, though He was present in you 
and knew your needs before your petition was offered. But it is 
ridiculously childish, unscientific and unphilosophical to suppose 
that the first angel that heard you conveyed it to a second, and 
he to a third, and so on until some shining throne was reached 
whereon sat a personal God, who there told the messengers what 
to do ; yet this is a fair deduction from the personal God theory. 

In the second place, they have overlooked another important 
fact : Whilst men on earth chain the lightning and change the 
course of nature in many ways, it is not reasonable to suppose 
that spirit existences, moved by God's attributes, are able to do 
much more ! even to changing electric currents and the courses 
of clouds, as are stated in Bible history ! What such agents do 
being impelled by God's attributes, God does ; and to Him be all 
the glory. And as " every knee shall bow and every tongue shall 
confess," materialists will not be an exception ; and all such, will 
on their bended knees, yet acknowledge the efficacy of prayer. 
It will thus be seen, that the answer to special prayer does not 
conflict with the unchangeability of Deity ; and it hence clearly 
follows that every sound borne upon the waves of the atmosphere 
to the drum of mortal ear has and must come from finite 
agencies, which alone are retro-active, and no words of such 
agents, only such as his attributes impel, can be the word and gift 
of God. Thirdly, and lastly, the honest materialists, Feuerbach, 
Comte and others, are not without a plausible argument in their 



160 



The Power behestd Mature. 



favor. Finding life in matter as far as is possible to reach, they 
proceed upon the hypothesis that all is phenomenal with life in 
itself, and, with Darwin, conclude that the greater than the 
atomic is caused by affinitive attraction, selection, aggregation, 
and cohesion — first, mineral ; secondly, vegetable : thirdly, animal ; 
fourthly, man. ^Tow, that the power of God's unfolding in 
nature has done all this in the manner by them set forth, I con- 
fess myself unable with any certainty to deny ; but be it as it 
may, it is still the work of God, by the creative, or, if any prefer, 
the changing power of His attributes in nature, manif esting an 
intelligence far superior to that of all finite creatures combined. 
But the very great mistake in these deep and honest thinkers con- 
sists in their not lifting the screen to see if something besides 
matter does not exist. They stopped too soon, were too easily 
satisfied — only one step more and they would have learned that 
there exist attributes and qualities which are not phenomenal, 
and that the first atom, whether insensate or living, was itself an 
effect which had its cause ; and for which cause, we in humility 
bow, and say we can find no better name than GOD. 



BEECHER DISSECTED. 



Text. — Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory * but 
in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than them- 
selves. — (Phil, ii, 3.) 

When a great light flashes upon the world like a blazing cornet 
passing through the ecliptic, all eyes are turned toward it and all 
minds strive to comprehend its errand. Such was the case a few 
evenings since, when it was announced that the illustrious pastor 
of Plymouth Church, New York, was to appear at Liederkranz 
Hall, in Louisville, to enlighten the benighted understandings of 
the inhabitants of the Palls City, and with its great capacity it 
was not able to contain the eager and pressing multitude that 
sought entrance to the prepared feast. If the dishes set before 
the guests are correctly reported, some of them must have been 
as indigestible as the Revelator's little book — somewhat bitter, 
though " in the mouth sweet as honey." 

Our text at the head of this discourse he declared to be the 
essence of his discourse, at the same time denying its possible, 
permanent existence with men ! Above all things, it is most im- 
portant that such lights at such times should enunciate truth in 
clear, unmistakable language, which always can be done if clear 
ideas are entertained. Many sound truths were uttered, enough 
to sugar-coat the oiled sophistries and cause them to be relished 
and swallowed with pleasure ; but no pains seem to have been 
taken to give them logical accuracy. My purpose now is not so 
much to notice the truths, but if possible to remove the finely 
woven covering which beautifully arranged language and simili- 
tude have spread over error in order to make it pass for truth. 

He sets out with a negative denial of the Trinity in its com- 
monly accepted sense, in which the text he chose seems to justify 
him, and he asserts truly that " Christ manifested the Father's 
interior nature." But in the next breath, either unwittingly or 
otherwise, he seems to lock arms with Auguste Comte, who in 
his Positive Philosophy makes the objective all that's real, and 
21 



162 



Beecher Dissected. 



every thing unreal which is unrecognizable by the five senses. 
The pastor says : " We can imagine no other truths than those 
which belong to our (five) senses," which, to settle his meaning, 
he calls " objective truths." Comte goes no farther than this — 
he owns no God not manifest to the senses ; and the pastor 
clinches the doctrine, and, in a negative manner, seems to deny 
any other senses. " Can anybody," he says, " tell me there is 
such a thing as taste that is not taste ? hearing that is not hear- 
ing ? seeing and feeling that are not seeing and feeling ? " !Now ; 
nobody can believe a thing can be and not be at the same time ; 
then for what purpose these questions only to deny the possibility 
of two kinds of senses of seeing, feeling, etc. ? If not, why all 
this dust and smoke ? Why question us in this adroit manner if 
he really believed in any other than the five natural senses ? 

Now, I would have you all understand, " without vain glory 
and in lowliness of mind," that there are other senses besides 
those enumerated, and vastly more important, that we should 
recognize. These are the spiritual, the real and subjective, 
while the outer or objective may be called the unreal. Take a 
block of marble : You see and feel it ; it is white and hard, and 
you pronounce it real. But bring it into the crucible ; it is soon 
red, then incandescent, next a fluid, and finally disappears from 
your vision or touch. What is it now ? Is it real ? If so, what 
and where is it ? ~No mortal can answer the question. It was 
and is not marble. Just so vanishes in the crucible of truth the 
affirmation that God is only known objectively, and all truths the 
same. God was in the marble as well as our minds, but where is 
the marble ? Our minds, being indestructible, are real, though 
subjective, and God is still there. Now, to my understanding, 
which God in His mercy has enlightened, subjective truths are 
by far the most real and imperishable, while nothing can be more 
true than that the objective or external senses, like the marble, all 
vanish in time's grand retort, the spiritual and subjective senses 
which are eternal, alone remaining. 

When we make use of the concept man, we usually include the 
ego and non ego — the subjective and objective — and what better 
definition can be given to the terms than internal and external f 
The former " refers to the thinking subject, the latter to the ob- 
ject thought of." But it may, with some plausibility, be affirmed 
that when the mind contemplates itself it is then both subject 
and object. This being admitted, it does not follow that it can 



Infinite Spirit. 



lf>3 



be made the non ego. It is simply the ego contemplating the ego. 
Neither can God in the mind be made the non ego. I admit the 
God, whom the pastor describes as of our own making, to be 
objective, and whom the simplest heathen, as well as he, " can 
see in clouds and hear Him in the wind." He may, if he choose, 
term all external nature the objectivity of the divine. It is what 
Moses saw in nature on the " clefts of the rocks," and for want of 
a better phrase, termed the " hinder parts of God ? " This is 
what Comte, Beecher and others call the true God, as all such 
do, who affirm that He can only be known objectively, when the 
best that could be said is, that it is simply the shadow of God. 
Spencer, Tyndall, Baring, Gould, Huxley and others know better. 
They go behind nature and find an " incomprehensible potency," 
which is termed "persistent force," " Divine energy," "Divine 
essence," " inscrutable Providence," an " evoluting power, etc." 
Though claiming little spirituality, this stands true, and in con- 
tradistinction to the objective doctrine, and is simply what we 
call Infinite Spirit — God — in a sense which cannot be applied to 
any finite being or tutelary deity. This infinite, omnipresent 
Spirit, enthroned in the mind — whose " kingdom is within you " 
— there makes Himself known in spite of every effort at unbelief, 
and this subjective knowledge is far in advance of all that ex- 
ternals can possibly impart. Here is where the true knowledge 
of God is obtained ; and the possession of this knowledge has no 
tendency to raise one above another and cause them to do any 
thing through " vain glory," but on the contrary it shows us our 
defects and assists us to " lowliness of mind, and to esteem others 
better than ourselves." Obedience to the operation of this spirit 
in the higher consciousness of our unfolding is the resurrection — 
the daily rising into newness of life and a more sensible relation, 
connection and union with God — more and more elevating the 
soul above and weaning it from earthly things, until the Christ 
plane is reached, Him received and obeyed, and full and complete 
redemption obtained. 

With these plain truths before us, which must come within the 
range and experience of every thoughtful mind, I leave all to 
imagine my astonishment at finding the Plymouth pastor, one of 
the greatest lights of the world, to be so far in the dark as to 
place all true knowledge of God objectively, instead of by this 
internal revealment of Himself to the mortals. He must have 
been led astray " through strife and vain glory, instead of lowli- 



164 



Beechee Dissected. 



ness of mind." Why, the wild negroes wandering on the east 
coast of Africa, between the Juba and Cape Delgado, know as 
much about God objectively as does the Plymouth pastor. So all 
the talk about how T we and they make God must pass as so much 
idle wind. But he goes on in the same strain and says : " All 
conceptions of God are but extensions of human character and 
experience." Is this the way Christ obtained His knowledge 
of the Father ? Did the Divinity "that stirs within" reveal noth- 
ing more than He could glean from human character ? Is Chris- 
tianity lowered to this platform? Truly, the wholly "natural 
man discerneth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are 
spiritually, not objectively, discerned." O, nay, Christ's advance- 
ment came from His reception of subjective truths made known 
by the Father. As the Father taught Him, so He taught the 
world, " in all lowliness of mind." But, leaving speculative 
authority, the pastor finally gets down to his work, and quotes : 
" Let nothing be done through strife and vain glory, but in low- 
liness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves." 
Here he strikes bottom and stands on solid ground, and adds : 
" This is harder to accept and practice than any theology ever put 
on paper." Most true, "noble Festus," still, it is the Christian 
ground, and such as cannot stand on it should not call themselves 
Christians, in the full import of that term. It is the very thing 
which is put into the practice of the daily life of the consecrated 
Shaker. 

But hear his further testimony : " This is very well in meeting- 
time, but when you go home there is not a man who believes any 
thing in it." Then, I would add, there is not a Christian among 
them. But what seems impossible with him is altogether possible 
with the true followers of Christ ; but, with him, I would con- 
fess its impossibility in Nature's self and selfishness. He very 
pertinently and correctly ridicules the idea, by some entertained, 
that the Infinite is some " magnificent being enthroned in the 
center of the universe, sitting there in crystalline splendor, with 
universes swinging around Him and His majesty demanding their 
homage and worship." He that "fills immensity" cannot have 
center nor circumference. If such throne exists, it must pertain 
to subordinate, finite creatures, with Christ for Supreme Judge. 
That the omnipresent Spirit is ever in the minds of all free 
agents is a truism to which the whole world can bear witness. 
But after the foregoing truths, what must we think of the sue- 



The Motherhood in God. 



1G5 



ceeding declaration ? " God is not centripetal, but centrifugal, 
sending all things out from Himself." This seems to neutralize 
what lie has just told us — it implies limit and admits the throne 
denied Him. To send things out from one's self implies that 
they go where He is not, and thus Omnipotence is denied. (!) 
The simple truth is, we are made to feel our nearness to or dis- 
tance from God just in proportion to our obedience or disobedi- 
ence, with no reference whatever to latitude nor altitude. Hence, 
the apostle says : " Submit yourself to God, draw nigh unto 
Him, and He will draw nigh unto you ; " " humble yourself and 
He will lift you up." James iv, 8, 10. 

Next, the pastor comes to the motherhood in God and asks : 
" How Christ came to tell us of the motherhood in God ! " He 
did not do it. The time had not come for the motherhood to be 
declared ; this was not for the bridegroom, but for the bride to 
declare. In the first appearing it was the Lamb, the bridegroom, 
masculine, who manifested the Fatherhood in God. The pseans 
were then the Father ! the Father ! The love of the Father ! 
" "What kind of love the Father hath ? " In the second appear- 
ing it was the bride, feminine, the Lamb's wife, who manifested 
the tearful, tuneful, motherly love, affectionate and pitying tender- 
ness, and the unbounded sweetness and gentleness of the mother- 
hood in God. Now the pseans from their virgin children are : 
The Mother ! The Mother ! The blessed Mother ! the love of the 
Mother ! And what kind of love the Mother had ? We should not 
allow a feeling of scorn nor derision to arise at the idea of a 
woman claiming to be the Lamb's wife ; but we should, instead, 
hide our heads in very shame to affirm the possibility that a 
church, full of concupiscence and lust, could be such. 

Further on, the pastor draws a sad picture of this " sample 
nation," and says : " It is all avarice and selfishness — every man 
for himself in the great centers of the government." Ah ! it is but 
too true, and instead of one-third of the human race being Chris- 
tianized, there are not ten thousand Christians on the face of the 
globe. Does not his own $25,000 a year given him for such talk 
as I have noticed in this discourse, exclude him from being among 
the number of the true followers of Christ ? Reflect, and then 
reply. He very justly affirms the want of justice in the adminis- 
tration of the government, and asks : " Can any one say that our 
courts administer justice according to the benign spirit of Christi- 
anity % " To which none, in truth, can give an affirmative answer. 



166 



Beecher Dissected. 



The Goddess of Liberty, holding the scales of justice over our 
Court-houses, is but a mockery and a sham. Pour enough gold 
into her lap and the scales will topple any way, and she will ex- 
cuse any crime under the shining sun. The pastor has had ample 
evidence of the truth of his affirmation in his own case. 

It must be acknowledged he began the amende honorable and 
rectification of his own wrong in the proper Christian spirit, with 
true heartfelt repentance and confession not only to the injured 
party, but to others. If it had been accepted and reciprocated in 
the same spirit, as it should have been, all would have ended well. 
When the pastor humbled himself before Tilton, he, being like- 
wise charged, should have humbled himself and made confession 
to his pastor. And could he have been satisfied of the ruling of 
the spirit of Christ throughout, he would doubtless have taken 
Mrs. Moulton's advice, who was then to him really u a section of 
the day of judgment." But the Christians were not to be found ; 
and he soon realized the fact that his only chance was to " fight 
the devil with fire " ■ — to use the same unchristian weapons for 
defense as those with which he was assaulted. He staked his all 
in the warfare and won. Being forced to use worldly weapons, 
he proved himself to be master of the situation, and, in a worldly 
point of view, came off with flying colors. 

I cannot well help, in this connection, however, calling to mind 
the words of an intelligent negro, who said : " Da better quit 
agitatin' dat subjec' 'tween Mr. Beecher an' de ladies." " Why 
so, uncle ? " " Case why, sah, it mout git down into de church, 
an' if it does it will play de debbil with de whole ob 'em." 
This brings to mind the saying of Jesus : " Let him that is with- 
out sin cast the first stone ; " and had the same been applied in 
this case not very many, in the old negro's view of it, would have 
been thrown. 

Seeing, then, the equalizing process, it were well that we 
" should do nothing through strife nor vain glory, but in lowli- 
ness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves." 



THE SHAKER PROBLEM. 



A LETTER TO S. E. WELLS OF THE PHEENOLOGICAL JOURNAL . 

[Note by the Editor : — Several of these discourses and letters would be 
more replete to the reader, should we present the letters and discourses to 
which these are intended as replies. But to save voluminous ambiguities, we 
trust to the critical, good sense of the reader, to easily perceive from these 
replies what points of interest they are intended to embrace and to give a 
proper construction thereto. G. A. L.] 

Dear Editor : — My reasons for not sooner noticing the brackets 
so profusely interspersed among my answers to your twenty-five 
questions in the Journal are the sickness and decease of a brother, 
which claimed my attention. If agreeable to you, I now propose 
to notice those of most importance. They are like little shrubs 
that one grasps while falling down a declivity, which, when taken 
hold of, immediately give way, when one after another is clutched 
with the same sad result ; but they serve the good purpose of 
easing the fall. 

Now, the Shakers are spiritually right or wrong. If wrong, it 
becomes the duty of those who perceive it to point out wherein ; 
if right, it is obligatory on them to make it manifest to the world 
by letting " their light so shine that others, seeing their good 
works, may also glorify their Father in heaven." — Matt, v, 16. 
It is an old saying but true : If you wish to learn your faults, 
listen to what your enemies say ; but I prefer a candid friend, 
whom I take you to be, and hope that you, or some writer for 
your Journal, will continue to point them out without reserve. 

We want with us in God's Kingdom only such as are striving 
to be good. You say God wants (in His kingdom) all mankind — 
good, bad and indifferent. What a kingdom ; what ! are not the 
sheep to be separated from the goats ? Are the good not to be 
distinguished from the willfully bad ? You ask : Was it the 
righteous or sinners Christ came to save ? He came to save sinners 
feom their sins, not m them. The saved are those who find a 
visible order of God, and these confess their sins, forsake them, 



16S 



The Shaker Problem. 



and live free from sin. Those who will not do this have not 
power to cease from sinning, are not saved, and must be classed 
among the goats, and cannot enter God's kingdom. 

" Physical reform is best continued through right generation." 
While I yield to you the palm in physical knowledge, I must not 
be censured too severely for entertaining some scruples in regard 
to the position here assumed. Christ and His followers advocated 
and practiced the reverse ; regeneration, not generation — right 
or wrong. If they were mistaken, then we are. Jesus Christ, 
our exemplar, gave few lessons on mere physics, though He was 
" made in all respects like His brethren ; " but of soul reform 
He was the teacher of all teachers. The one hundred and forty- 
four thousand that followed Him were Virgins. 

Of the wedding garments, you ask if we are sure that we are 
right \ To us the evidence is clear. Some of the invited guests 
could not control their selfishness. The less guilty begged to be 
excused ; but the reply of the married was to the point : "I have 
married a wife and therefore cannot comeP From these exam- 
ples it seems obvious that the rejected were not self-controllers, 
but were " sensual, having not the spirit ; walking after their own 
lusts." — Jude. 

You ask how. we know what Zion expects ? — " Have you (we) 
been there ? " Most assuredly ; we are there now. You say : 
"Let Shakers beget Shakers, etc." This they are doing ; but not 
in a natural, generative nor worldly manner. That would be im- 
possible. They must cease to be followers of Christ, and become 
worldlings before they can do so. They would thereby become 
" children of this world, who marry and are given in marriage," 
and would cease to be among those who are counted worthy to 
obtain the resurrection from the dead, where they neither marry 
nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels (not yet angels 
themselves, but like the angels.) Matt, xxii, 30. They would 
be like the young widows whom Paul advised the church not to 
receive. " For," says he, " when they have begun to wax wanton 
against Christ, they will marry, having damnation, because they 
have cast off their first faith" (which was not to marry, but to 
live a purely virgin life, after the example of Christ.) — Tim. v, 
11-14. 

You say " Shakers are something beside spirits." I will notice 
this further on. You ask : Why we sit in judgment ? " Do ye 
not know," says Paul, " the saints shall judge the world ? " If 



The Judgment Seat. 



109 



the followers of Christ — " though in the world, yet not of the 
world " — are the saints, and those who do not follow Him are 
the world, why should the latter complain of being judged by 
the former ? Or shall the world judge the saints ? 

You say of my fifth answer : " It is both unscientific and un- 
scriptural, to say that there is no danger of the world being 
burned in the way the Shakers seem to fear." 

Assertions unproved always bring more or less suspicion on 
one's solid arguments. It is far easier to say a thing is un- 
scientific than to prove it to be so. The earth contains the area 
named, more or less, and that population increases on its surface 
in a given ratio is indisputable ; and, though it contained double 
the area named, the reasoning would hold good ; and although 
you may have other means to stay the tide of population, it is 
still evident that the proposition is mathematically scientific. It 
is not the Shakers who fear a literal conflagration of the external 
world. Now, let those who are really concerned for the contin- 
uance of the world, advocate the Shaker or Christ plan, which is 
to burn up the world in the human breast ; and in proportion as 
this is done, which must be gradual, propagation will be checked, 
and the world continued. Either this, or wars and pestilence, 
greater than the world has ever known, are all that can continue 
the human race on the earth five centuries more ! else there is no 
truth in mathematics, nor in effect following its cause. 

" Oh, the egotism ! " you exclaim, etc. " We know that we 
are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." — 1 John 
v. 19. Was the beloved apostle an egotist % If he was, so are 
we, because we know the same that the apostle John did. 

" So few ! " you exclaim ; and then add : " Were you ap- 
pointed to sort the acceptable ones ? " Certainly. If the saints, 
the true followers of Christ, who constitute God's Kingdom on 
earth, are not to judge who are acceptable, who shall ? Must it 
be worldlings ? Perhaps you will say, God. Very well ; but 
how ? It must be God in the seeker, or God in the world, or 
God in the saints — which? But you say: "Go slow, Mr. 
Shaker, and quote the Saviour, 6 Judge not, that ye be not 
judged.' " — Matt, vii, 1. This caution Christ gave to brethren 
who were equals, whose first work was to remove the beams from 
their own eyes. Christ, while on earth, was the seat of judg- 
ment for the world. This judgment He gave to His successors 
when He left, and it still remains with His true followers. 
22 



170 



The Shaker Problem. 



Now, what say ye? 

Christ was a Communist. Ananias and Sapphira got into their 
difficulty by their dishonesty. There are many Ananiases and 
Sapphiras in this day, who are struck dead to the spirit, carried 
out and buried in the world. 

You ask : "Do not the Shakers own and let out land as other 
professed Christians do ? " Not at all. We have said Shakers 
own no land by absolute right and title. They once had this 
right, but it passed away from man in the general consecration 
to God and His service, reserving to themselves, and to you, and 
to your children, and to all nations, peoples, kindreds, tongues, 
or color, the right of use and occupancy who will confess and 
forsake their sins, and follow Christ in the regeneration, by lead- 
ing, like Him, a pure and holy life. Any one, every one, the 
whole world over, can come and occupy this consecration just as 
freely as those who now occupy it by living the pure life above 
stated. Is this the way other professed Christians do ? If so 
then they are Shakers. 

" But do they not sell land ? " you pertinently inquire. If 
they do, the consecration only changes its form. Suppose 100 
acres of land builds a house, no one nor ones have a personal 
right to the house any more than they had to the land. They 
have the right of the usuf ruct — to use and occupy it so long as 
they remain true to the covenantal compact and no longer. But 
any human being now existing between the poles has the same 
right, on the same conditions. Thus, you see, the principle of 
selfishness is destroyed to an extent nowhere else accomplished 
under the shining sun. Are we now understood ? Is this the 
way other professed Christians do ? 

Emasculation is like Paul's circumcision, of the heart, in the 
spirit, and not in the letter. (See Rom. ii, 29.) Outward emas- 
culation would avail nothing, but in the heart every thing. The 
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake are such as in heart 
deny themselves, not such as externally incapacitate themselves 
and retain an adulterous heart. Now take a vote upon this if you 
please. 

" Those who will not follow Christ He cannot save," you re- 
peat interrogatively. — Cannot? — If omnipotent, why not? He 
is not omnipotent. He is not the Father, but the Son of the 
Father. He is what Paul tells Timothy : " For there is one 
God, and one Mediator between God and man — the man Christ 



Spirit versus Matter. 



171 



Jesus." — 1 Tim. ii, 5. He cannot be mediator between two and 
be either of the two Himself. Though a chosen man, He was 
between God and mankind. Since it has pleased the Father to 
bestow on man freedom of thought and action, and since salva- 
tion depends on man's obedience to the Son, it follows that the 
Son cannot save the willfully disobedient. This is the " why 
not." 

" Pauper children." The Shakers do not depend on pauper 
children to keep up the institution, but on finding a few " self- 
controllers " among the mass of mankind. 

I will now notice your seventh proposition. — " Shakers are 
something besides Spirits." It would have been more true and 
to the point if you had said Shakers are something besides bodies. 
Bodies are only fictitious, fleeting, fading tenements or present 
coverings for the real Shaker ; they exist for a moment and dis- 
appear. If there is any truth in philosophy, or if the deepest 
thinkers of this or any other age have found a truth on which all 
agree, it is the fact that the body forms no part of the man. If 
this be true, then, our friend is mistaken in saying Shakers are 
something besides spirits. All writers, whose works I have read, 
have enunciated the fact that the ego and non ego, the spirit and 
the body, are contradictions, and distinct ; that the phenomena 
of each are governed and controlled by different laws. 

Socrates, in his dialogue with Alcibiades, maintains it. Bacon 
and Descartes, fathers of modern philosophy, affirm the same. 
Locke and his personal friend, Le Clerc, adopt the same. Eeid 
says : " They (the mind and body) are separated by the whole 
diameter of being." 

Laromaguere : " Between an extended and unextended sub- 
stance there can be no connecting medium." He, with Socrates, 
denies that the body is any part of the man ; and Plato says : 
" The soul is in the body like a sailor in a ship — that the soul 
employs the body as an instrument, but that the energy, life or 
sense is the manifestation of "a different substance, etc." All 
agree with Laromaguere that " the unextended (the mind) can 
have no connection by touch with the body." He thus disposes 
of the plastic medium between soul and body that some contend 
for : " This hypothesis is too absurd for refutation. It annihi- 
lates itself, for between an extended and unextended substance 
there can be no middle existence, these being contradictory. If 
the medium be neither soul nor body, it is a chimera ; if it is at 



172 



The Shaker Problem. 



once body and soul, it is contradictory ; or if, to avoid contradic- 
tion, it is said to be like us, a union of soul and body, it is itself 
in want of a medium." 

So, my dear friends, you must perceive that we are something 
besides bodies. But as it is to us as the ship to the sailor, it 
needs some attention, and, as this seems to be your greatest con- 
cern, go on and mend up the leaky vessels and build new ones • 
we can sail more safely in a good ship than a poor one. But let 
us agree as to our prerogatives ; while yours is with the ship, ours 
is with the sailor — then let us fraternize. While you are mend- 
ing up the old hulks and making new ones, you must permit us 
to trim the sails and show the sailors which way to steer to the 
haven of rest and harbor of peace — peace, sweet haven of peace ! 
which none but the truly honest cross-bearer and follower of 
Christ can ever find. 

Kind friend, I have written the foregoing with a subdued 
heart ; as it were by the side of a dying brother, with a deep 
sense of the little span of time allowed me here, sincerely and 
earnestly, and in the kindest spirit of true friendship for yourself 
and the many readers of your excellent Journal^ hoping that 
some may be induced to investigate and prove if these things 
are so. 



REPLY TO V. NICHOLSON". 



ANALYSIS OF SHAKEBISM. 



Friend Y : — Tour favor is received, and having leisure I will 
now notice its contents. Your first wish is to be rightly informed 
if you have misapprehended the sentiments of one whom I will 
term F., and, as I think you have in some cases, I shall now en- 
deavor to comply with your wishes. This request shows to my 
mind honesty of purpose on your part. I will proceed to notice 
them in the order in which you have stated your objections in the 
paper you had the kindness to send me. 

I. " Creative Wisdom," I presume, is only another name for 
God, and certainly, as F. has stated, those who most perfectly obey 
God, must realize the greatest amount of happiness, and inasmuch 
as God is disobeyed, " unhappiness must be the inevitable result." 
If the Shakers, as a class, obey God more perfectly than any other 
class, they, of course, must enjoy the greatest amount of happi- 
ness. You say : " In some respects the Shakers do." I ask : Is 
there any other class, or body of people, that do in more respects ? 
If so, who ? where 1 when ? how ? If you will be good enough 
to point them out to me, I will certainly bow before them and do 
them reverence. 

II. Instead of using the term " another," F. should have said a 
" higher " state of existence, in order to convey the true idea. 
The life of Christ being a higher life than that of the world, we 
have chosen that life ; as the apostle saith, we are they " on whom 
the ends of the world are come," living now as Christ did then on 
earth, and as we conceive the angels do in heaven. What objec- 
tion can be brought against any one who chooses freely to lead 
the life of Christ, and live above the selfish and sensual elements 
of the world ? I can see none. This the Shakers do — I speak of 
them as a class ; that there are exceptions I do not deny. Bro. 
F. is right in denying that the separation of the sexes as sexes, 
causes dissatisfaction to such as freely choose the life of Christ ; 
but that there is disquiet and unrest attending those who are only 



171 



Analysis of Shakerism. 



- ./y- rimentmg in it, I will freely admit ; and that the countenances 
of such are indexes, to some extent, and also of the amount of 
happiness enjoyed by them. To pretend to lead the life of Christ, 
with the heart's affections placed upon the pleasures and things 
of this world, is by no means calculated to make a heaven for any 
soul, and I am not sorry that such ones exhibit their true condition 
to discerning visitors who come among us. But to the charge of 
scolding 1 and ridiculing such ones, I must demur. Than this, 
there can be no greater mistake. The office of an Elder is not 
to govern, in the ordinary sense of that term, but to lead. 
Elders are not to be feared, but loved. They are to set others 
an example by governing themselves. Shall and shall not are not 
of their vernacular — do not properly belong in the Shaker vocabu- 
lary ; but, as said, the Elder's duty simply is, by counsel, precept 
and example, to aid others to govern themselves / and " he that 
would be greatest must be servant of all," must be the most yield- 
ing to the wants of others, the most forbearing, the most forgiv- 
es ' O" c3 

ing, the most condescending, the most upright, that others, " see- 
ing their good works, may glorify their Eather in heaven," and 
though being equals will love and obey them of choice. One 
substituting any other government must have studied himself and 
human nature to small profit. The government of force is gone 
when the forces become equal. The government of fear is lost 
whenever the fear is gone ; but the government of love is eternal. 
This reveals the secret of what stability belongs to the govern- 
ment of the Shaker institution. 

III. The affinity question is well put by F., and I am compelled 
to say, as I think, rather poorly answered by you. Jesus was not 
the advocate of marriage other than in the same sense in which 
the Shakers themselves advocate it. The whole tenor of His life 
and teaching is as much against it as is ours. To all those who 
chose or desired to be made perfect, to become one with Him in 
the higher life, it was uniformly : " Eorsake all — father, mother, 
liouse, land, wife and children. Take up the cross daily, and 
follow me." But to those undeveloped Pharisees, and all who 
chose the lower life, He cited them to how it was in the oeginning, 
and exhorted them to be guided by that. "We say the same, and 
wish all who do not choose the higher life, may live an orderly 
life with the wife of their youth. 

IV. Truths never conflict ; and wherever there is " manifest 
conflict," the one or the other is an error. But there may be ap- 



Evolution. 



175 



parent conflict, and both be right. This may be in consequence of 
the incompetency of those who suppose they have made the dis- 
covery. For example : The word of God to Moses and Joshua 
was : " Slay your enemies ; " but to Jesus " Lorn your enemies." 
Is there conflict here ? By no means. God's word to each man 
and woman can be indicative of nothing more than his or her 
highest internal perceptions of truth and right — i. e., the highest 
they are capacitated to receive. Moses and Joshua were incapable 
of perceiving higher truths than an " eye for an eye." God 
could not give them the Christ light nor life. Their development 
or unfoldment would not admit of it. It would not have been 
seen nor appreciated by them, had it been presented to them. 
According to this, you will say that Moses, who slew his enemies, 
and Christ who loved His, were equally justified before God. 
Precisely so — if they were equally obedient to their highest light. 
No man can justly be condemned for obeying his highest light. 
All condemnation arises from disobeying, not from obeying. 
66 This is the condemnation — that light has come into the world." 
Again God's word to Adam was : Marry a wife, generate offspring 
orderly. This was higher light, and a higher state than that of 
animal promiscuity. But to Christ it was : " Excelsior " — ■ come 
up still higher ; lead the angel life in this world. He obeyed 
God ; and, as Paul says, set us an example that we should follow 
His steps — 'every one whose unfoldment will admit of it — who 
perceives the higher light. Is there conflict here % Not at all. 
But here verily is progress in reality — a progress which you seem 
to ignore. Can we live the Mosaic and the Christ life at the same 
time % Can we live the generating life of the first Adam, and 
the self-denying life of the second Adam, at the same time \ 
"Do men gather figs from thistles ? " 

Y. If the " goodly Ann Lee " discovered that self-denial, celi- 
bacy, and chastity formed the substratum of the Christ-life, and 
this was true then — all the sophistry in the world cannot make it 
false now. After having chosen and adopted this higher Christ- 
life, would not the choosing and adopting the most orderly 
Adamic-lif e be retrograde % What use for the Christ-life if the 
Adamic will answer \ Or was Christ's life a failure % If to lead 
a life of virtue, purity and chastity, in the present tense, is incor- 
porating, as you seem to indicate, an error fatal to the future vir- 
tue, purity and chastity of the human race, then your charge is 
true and logically sound, and a sweet fountain can send forth a 



176 



Analysis of Shakerism. 



hitter stream. But I must say it requires greater powers of dis- 
cernment than are vouchsafed to me, to be able to discover how 
the exercise of any good quality in the present tense could oper- 
ate against that quality and make it evil in ths future tense ! 
But let me beg you to note this : It is not total abstinence that 
encourages drunkenness, but it is the honorable (?) moderate 
drinker. 

VI. If we have the threefold existence, of which you speak — 
spirit, intellect and body — is it unreasonable that the spirit should 
reign over the intellect and animal % I know you will say you 
go in for a harmonious combination of the three, each performing 
its legitimate functions and duties. This is just what we are at; 
but the higher must dictate the lower, and the lower be subject 
in its action — whether it be much, little, or none at all — or else 
harmony is unattainable. Should not the lower impulses be sub- 
ordinate to the higher ? But how is the fact with the world % 
Do not the animal appetites run riot in the face of protesting 
spirit ? You must answer affirmatively. Now true Sliakerism is 
honesty of purpose, the subordinating and subjecting the lower 
to the higher impulses ; and if the spirit should, in the more 
highly developed and brightly unfolded souls, require the entire 
abnegation of some of the more gross and merely animal ap- 
petites, what just censure can rest on such pure-minded ones for 
obeying the high mandate ? Really none, I think. If your un- 
foldment has reached this — the Christ-standard — the word of 
God to your soul will be : " Come ye out from among them ; 
touch not, taste not, Handle not the unclean thing," and Christ 
will receive you, and you will be with Him c£ one spirit ; " but if 
your condition is below this, and yet on the highest plane of the 
natural man, the word of God will be to you : Marry one wife, 
and live in orderly generation, and be with her " one flesh ; " and 
this is all you can make of it — simply " one flesh /" nothing more, 
nothing less. Next below this is animal promiscuity, with its 
times and seasons ; lower still is unbridled license under the or- 
dinary marital state ; lower still is the same license with concubin- 
age and the plurality wife-system ; and still a deeper depth is 
that of ill-famed institutions of debauchery. Thus are the grada- 
tions manifest from below up to the animal, to man, to Christ, to 
God. He that hath eyes to see, let him see. Truly Bro. F. was 
right in leaving marriage to the " children of this world," where 
Christ left it, and not to suffer pressure from below to. force it 



Nature's Law*. 



177 



upon " those who are not of this world, even as he was not of 
this world, but are as the angels in heaven. " Is this unfair \ 

VII. Your remarks in reference to the declaration that Shaker- 
ism brought forth Spiritualism, I think, are to the point. It 
would read better to me reversed, and say Spiritualism brought 
forth Shakerism quite one hundred years ago, and has abided 
with it ever since — Spiritualism the cause, Shakerism is the 
effect. 

VIII. I freely admit that rules which require men to bow- 
before creeds must pass away, but not that of a " visible lead." 
One good visible lead is worth more to society than a dozen in- 
visible leads; and a lead of some kind is indispensable. For 
every man to lead himself as best suits his inclinations, is just 
what the world generally have been doing from Adam to the 
present day, with few exceptions. Nor is it dispensing with 
reason to yield to a visible lead, but rather the highest exercise 
of it. Even though the lead be imperfect, harmony cannot exist 
without such acquiescence. I love to reason with my fellow men, 
and yield to the best reasons offered me on any subject. Truly, 
as my Bro. F. says, " Shaking does not injure the Shakers." 

IX. You say the Shakers profess to have faith in the laws of 
Nature. So they do. Gravity is a law of Nature. So is pro- 
creation, you may saj^. But how is this to be proved ? Because 
issue follows the act. This does not make the act itself a law of 
nature. We might as well affirm that the desires and will of man 
are laws of Nature. I frankly admit that in procreation the laws 
of Nature should be observed ; but regret to say it is seldom the 
case with man. But such as choose not to propagate, do not 
thereby violate any law of Nature. Perhaps you will say they 
violate the laws of their being ; if you should, the proof will rest 
with you, which you may find it difficult to make clear. But the 
most flagrant violation of Nature's laws can truthfully be charged 
home on those who choose to propagate, with scarcely a com- 
plaint from the reformer and advocate of progress ! Can this be 
successfully controverted ? But all this introducing and inter- 
larding with the God of Nature and laws of Nature seems to me 
is not for the purpose of liberating the soul, but to liberate the 
animal, and set it free to indulge itself in spite of the soul's pro- 
testations ; or else it is a subtle intellectual argument in behalf of 
the animal, to convince the soul that it is imposing unnecessary 
restrictions. And hence the animal, in unison with the intellect, 

23 



178 



Analysis of Shakerism. 



complains, cries, speaks of prison walls, bonds intolerable, and 
appeals to the laws of Nature and Nature's God for relief. But 
all its special pleading is easily comprehended by the well-balanced 
and well-developed mind. Would it be amiss for me to ask what 
is meant by Nature's God, and what are His attributes? When 
this is answered, we may come to a better understanding, and 
learn whether we violate them or not ; until then we must claim 
to be in harmony and unison with them. 

Now, Bro. Valentin e, you will perceive that I have followed 
your example in speaking plainly, with no design of giving 
offense— have simply spoken for myself, as I understand the 
truth ; to help as I am willing to be helped by every friend of 
human progress. 

In the cause of Christ and Humanity, thine, 

H. L. Eads. 



REPLY TO JAMIESON. 



"HAS JESUS ANY FOLLOWERS ?" 



Is asked with a flourish of trumpets, by one Jamieson, in his 
closing critique of the character and sayings of Jesus Christ. 
The announcement that the end has come will doubtless give re- 
lief to some. I have concluded, however, not to let the matter 
die without answering his important question that heads this arti- 
cle. I now respond in the affirmative, with as much emphasis as 
he has in the negative. 

Every man or woman who takes Jesus Christ for an exemplar 
— lives His life — brings him or herself into the conditions He 
prescribes, as far as he or she is able — is emphatically an adherent 
and follower of Christ. It is, however, thought by our critic to 
be impossible to follow Him and obey His teachings in conse- 
quence of their absurd and contradictory character, and wrong to 
do so in consequence of their immoral tendency. Besides, he says, 
u no man can represent all truth," and he wants the universe 
for his fountain from which to draw his portion. Now, he who 
best represents the attributes of Deity best represents truth • for 
God is truth. This, Christ did better than all the universe be- 
side, so far as we have knowledge, which Ms own biography, if 
true, fully substantiates. The spiritual truth of the universe may 
be said to have been focalized in Him ; while truths pertaining to 
mere matter were more or less ignored. In asserting that His 
teachings were absurd and immoral, it would, at least, have been 
commendable in the asserter to have added this clause : " If I am 
able to comprehend and understand them." This much modesty 
would have revealed a deeper vein of thought than is otherwise 
exhibited in his productions, and would have shown a clue respect 
to minds equal to his own, that might chance to differ from him. 
To my mind, his articles all show a great want of ability to com- 
prehend the true meaning of the texts and sayings quoted by 
him. What seems to him a " perfect muddle," is to others of 
equal learning and culture, a harmonious and consistent whole. 



180 



Has Jesus any Followers? 



If I am able to understand our critic, I find many of his asser- 
tions without foundation, and some, I think, untrue. The asser- 
tion that " but few of Christ's teachings were of importance, and 
these few came from the heathen, " he must have known to be 
groundless, unless he has had access to heathen productions not 
accessible to the common public. Besides, of the few that, are 
found in heathen works can he be quite sure that they were not 
interpolations by interested parties from Christ 1 Assertion is one 
thing, proof is another. It seems presumptuous to assert that 
Christ has no followers, because the critic thinks it impossible. 
I profess to be one of the followers of Christ, as I understand 
Him, but not as Jamieson does. It is not his prerogative to dis- 
pute my claim until he shall have proven my understanding to be 
wrong and his right ; and this he might find a task not easily per- 
formed. " The natural man," says Paul, " receiveth not the 
things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him ; 
neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." 
— (1 Cor., chap. 2, 5, 14.) Our critic seems to be of the class 
here referred to, as he is able to see little else than foolishness in 
Christ's teachings. He will pardon our classifying him. But in 
regard to the contradictory character of Jesus' teachings, I fear 
not to affirm that by comparison and a rational exegesis the con- 
tradictory features will mostly, if not all, disappear. Allow me 
to take one of his most prominent examples, and one of the most 
difficult to reconcile. Christ teaches us to love all, hate none, 
honor parents, to do good for evil, even to bless our persecutors 
and love our enemies. It is thought that His commanding or 
making it a condition of discipleship, and consequent happiness, 
that the husband and wife, and partial relations, must not only be 
forsaken but hated, is contravening the direct command to love 
all ; and hence, our critic avers, if we take one position, it is im- 
possible to take the other. I must be excused for taking a dif- 
ferent view. That they do not antagonize, and that they are all 
in support of the pure, sweet, loving and unselfish life which the 
blessed man taught and practiced during His earthly pilgrimage, 
I shall proceed to show. 

It is well known that Christ was a celibate, Spiritualist and 
communist, possessing a heart overflowing with the milk of 
human kindness, charity and love for humanity ; and who taught 
that whatever antagonized with these should be hated and for- 
saken. Now, selfhood and selfish property must exist in the pro- 



Christ's Sayings Elucidated. 



L81 



creative and generative world, all of which are at variance with 
the equal spiritual communism of Christ, and consequently must 
be forsaken in coining into the Christ-life. The husband and 
wife who may desire to come into Christ's spiritual community 
would at once perceive that the relation of husband and wife, 
private property and generation, were incompatible with the 
Christ-life conditions, and must be forsaken. The woman could 
now very consistently say to her husband : " I love you, Wil- 
liam ; but the husband of it I despise — that is what has brought 
on ' all our woes ; ' and now if you will permit me to hate the 
husband and allow me to remain your sister in Christ, I will love 
and respect the brother better and more than ever I did the hus- 
band." The husband could consistently say the same to the wife, 
and love the sister while hating the wife. Hence it is clear that 
the wife and husband may be hated, according to the command 
of Christ, while all mankind are loved. Thus this stumbling 
paradox is found to be no contradiction at all ; and thus it is with 
all our critic has set before us. 

He complains, and says Christ " commands us to cultivate 
poverty in order to secure bliss," and adds, " let him keep his 
bliss." I will certainly be enlightened if he will point out a 
single instance in the history of the world where riches have pro- 
duced bliss. Riches and bliss are incompatible with each other. 
T would almost go as far as a certain great teacher who said : 
u Every rich man is either himself dishonest or the son of dis- 
honest parents ; " and dishonesty and bliss cannot occupy the 
same berth. Solomon's experiment might satisfy any one on this 
point. He says : " I made me great works, builded me houses, 
planted vineyards, made pools of water, got me servants and 
maidens and greater possessions than all that were before me. 
Whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld 
not my heart from any joy, etc., and behold all was vanity and 
vexation of spirit." All men naturally would do the same if they 
could, and find the same result. 

Thus we see that there is nothing in riches to satisfy the spirit. 
Natural riches can satisfy in some measure the natural desires of 
the animal body ; but it takes spiritual riches to satisfy the im- 
mortal or spiritual man and woman. 

Our critic, after placing Christ below the heathen, tells what 
He (Christ) would have done had He been equal with some of 
them. He says if Christ had been sensible, He would not have 



182 



Has Jesus any Followers? 



requested others to follow Him, but, instead, would simply have 
enjoined on all — " Be thyself." He consoles himself however 
" thus : " " There is none to do Jesus honor, none whose common 
sense will permit him to keep His sayings. ~No one believes on 
Jesus ! None follow Him! " Now, I would just here beg him 
to make one or two exceptions, if he pleases. We will admit 
that we clo not follow Him as friend Jamieson understands Him ; 
but we do follow Him as we understand Him. Hence I here con- 
front him by asserting that there are still some to " do Jesus 
honor," "whose common sense permits them to keep His sayings," 
"who believe on Him and follow Him." So, right here, we and 
our critic are at swords' points. If he sustains himself in the 
position assumed, he must show that we are not Christ's followers 
by putting his finger on facts. 

But before I close, at the risk of being thought invidious, I 
would beg leave to institute a short comparison between the wis- 
dom of what Christ did and the wisdom of doing what our critic 
says He should have done. Christ's doctrine, carried out in His 
life, was to love and do good to all ; boundless in forgiving, 
charity unto death, from the prostitute to the thief on the cross. 
Such love hath no man ever had, and such a life was never 
before exhibited. But now for the application of our critic's 
wisdom, — " Be thyself : " Gambler, be thyself ; drunkard, be 
thyself ; thief, be thyself ; master, be thyself ; slave, be thyself ; 
whoremonger, be thyself ; prostitute, be thyself — don't listen to 
Jesus' advice, " go and sin no more ; " ravisher, be thyself ; 
ravished, be thyself — don't cry, because he was being himself ! 
Thus we see what a world J. would have — passion let loose with 
no restraining influence— who would wish to be a denizen thereof ? 
His doctrine, carried out, would make a world of devils incarnate, 
instead of saints. But Jesus, the " Blessed Jesus," has followers. 



DEFENSE OF SHAKEEISM. 

ANOTHER DANIEL. 



A certain individual, Billings by name, has found materialized 
fingers of a man's hand to write on the walls of the Shaker 
Church, or Christ's Kingdom on earth, the ominous words, 
" Mene, Mene, Tekel, Ujpharsin" himself being the diviner to 
give the " interpretation thereof," which, in short, is the calamity 
of decay and extinction, together with the loss of exclusive 
ownership of Ann Lee, unless important concessions and changes 
be soon made. The first is to do away with the destructive 
element of centralized power which was engrafted upon the body 
of the order by Ann Lee ; who, when under the divine afflatus, 
was more than human, and by her great gift of spiritual discern- 
ment caused her followers to become as little children in her 
hands. This is the way he avers the centralized power, of which 
he now so bitterly complains, was established in the order ; if so, 
it must have been of God divine, and not of men ; consequently 
it would be a sacrilegious act to disturb it. But we shall not 
clothe said Billings in scarlet for his divination, nor make him 
ruler in the kingdom. But we deny the charge of having become 
unworthy of Ann Lee, and will battle to the death against any 
power that may try to remove her from the regenerative and 
transplant her into the generative order. It would be nothing- 
less than an effort at abduction, prompted by lustful covetousness 
on his part, to try to win Ann Lee by over- wrought flattery, and 
thus rob the children of their Mother. He essays to give a 
reason why, what was good and proper in her day is evil in this 
day, and that is because she had a power of discernment then 
that is wanting now. Pitiful reason ! It is no reason at all why 
a lead was necessary then and unnecessary now, and should be 
obeyed then and not now. But this leadership began with Jesus, 
not with Ann, and our sole prosperity depends upon our strict 
adherence to their teachings and example, and to the counsel of 



184 



Another Daniel. 



their appointees ; utterly and wholly ignoring all Ahithopelic 
counsels whatever. 

In the face of their teachings Billings makes the astounding 
declaration that " It cost more to become a Shaker 100 years ago 
than now, but more was received in return then than now for the 
sacrifice," thus showing remarkable ignorance of the teachings of 
our leaders. It costs now precisely what it did 100 years ago, or 
1800 years ago — no more — no less. It cost a man then just " all 
that he had," including " his own will and his life." It costs 
just the same now. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that any 
thing can be reserved in this day that had to be sacrificed in that. 
This reservation, keeping back part of the price — reserving a few 
sheep and oxen (1st Sam. 15), forgetting that "obedience is better 
than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams," — was the 
cause of his failure to receive the promised reward — salvation 
and redemption from sin and a "life hid with Christ in God." 
Any reserve whatsoever will defeat this end, and it is only by 
receiving those sent of Christ, in childlike simplicity and confi- 
dence, that we can receive Him. Our critic next speaks of the 
" inexorable law of compensation that cannot be set at naught nor 
avoided." < Law of compensation ! "What can he mean ? The 
compensation in Christ's Kingdom is the same to all literally. 
Spiritually it is a justified conscience, with the bliss occasioned 
by it, and freedom from the bondage of the world, together with 
increasing power over evil. In these things he talks like a 
stranger. But the leadership seems to trouble his spirit like a 
nightmare. He says : " The absolute, unquestioned dictator- 
ship of the lead in the Shaker order was the child of the wonder- 
ful inspirational character of Ann Lee." If so why should lie 
wish to slay the child and then lay claim to the mother who bore 
it ? There is a strange inconsistency here. To pour out his af- 
fections on the mother and then slay her offspring — " even the 
little child that must forever lead them." He continues : " The 
wisdom of the spiritual agents may be questioned by those who 
judge from a natural stand-point." Just so. The wisdom of 
both Jesus and Ann was questioned from the material stand- 
point, as much as their followers are now ; but such materialists 
" cannot discern spiritual things — they are foolishness to them." 

Our critic doubtless became weary of being controlled by the 
child spirit, and "looking through a glass darkly," from a 
material stand-point, supposed he discovered a great lack of 



Communistic Government. 



185 



wisdom in the spiritual leaders. But lie exaggerates largely when 
he says : u The authority of the elder is the entire control of 
the individual under him, body, soul, and mind ; the member 
must act through the elder in all things, even in the occupation 
of his mind.'' There is such a mixture of truth and falsehood in 
this that a special analysis becomes necessary. The Elder's rule, 
over the subject's mind, extends no farther than to determine the 
kind of business he or she is to pursue for the time being, for the 
benefit of themselves and the community. I will illustrate by 
my own experience. I was requested in times past to work at 
various branches of business, mechanical and otherwise, and 
thereby learned several trades, in all of which I had the freest 
possible exercise of all my faculties to develop my mechanical 
genius ; my mind was entirely untrammeled by the elder's mind, 
and was brought as fully and freely into exercise as if I had ap- 
pointed myself to the several callings. It was the same with my 
studies — Philosophy, Logic, Language, History, Mathematics, 
Theology, Physics, or Metaphysics, etc., save I was not permitted 
the use of novels, sensual nor amative works; but my mind was 
as distinct and free as is possible for other minds to be under any 
circumstances. 

It is nonsense to speak of our order as a " crystallized body " 
with no room for the mind's expansion. So, also, the charge of 
mental and physical bondage among the Shakers has not an inch 
of solid ground to rest on. Having been brought up from baby- 
hood within the pale of the institution, I am satisfied that in no 
condition of life could my mind have been freer to expand in every 
thing good and valuable than here, the line alone of expansion 
having been directed by elders and others, just as any father or 
mother would do for their son. Thus the fog and smoke are 
brushed away from our critics' Elder-bondage statement, and the 
conditions made truthful and clear. It is the duty of every 
person on earth to follow any light, or copy any example above 
them, and there is neither slavery nor bondage in so doing ; and 
if he should perceive, as Billings did, " more of Christ among the 
Shakers than is to be found elsewhere," it is not only a privilege 
but a duty to close in with it and obey its behests, and not set 
oneself up to judge it and pronounce upon it condemnation and 
extinction. The fact is, the true-souled and obedient Shaker is 
the freest person on the foot-stool of God, because all his bonds 
are self-imposed, whereas all others have bonds imposed on them 
24 



186 



Another Daniel. 



against their will which they would gladly throw off but cannot. 
The bondage that Billings suffered, was that he could not be free 
to subvert the order with his " angel forces," and fix it to suit his 
own materialistic ideas. But he should remember that 

" Order is Heaven's first law and this confessed, 
Some are and must be placed above the rest, 1 ' 

else all would be chaos and confusion. Other complaints of little 
family rules seem hardly worth notice ; yet, I will offer a few re- 
marks concerning them. 

I. The authorities must see the letter correspondence of mem- 
bers with the outside world. None but false-hearted persons 
could, and ever did complain of this rule. 

II. Members are not to absent themselves without the knowl- 
edge and permission of the elders. A child can see the necessity 
of this. 

III. Whistling. "While we have no absolute rule forbidding it, 
it is not a commendable practice ; still, I would not object against 
the whole community whistling even Yankee Doodle in concert, 
and blessing God for the liberty of conscience which was obtained 
under its martial strains. 

IY. Sexes talking together. I presume any restriction in this 
quarter would interfere with his sense of gallantry. But the 
sexes conversing with each other is not prohibited except it be 
two alone in closed apartments ; hence three or more are recom- 
mended in such cases. Billings seems to be well posted in Shaker 
Spiritualism, and must have been a member during the great out- 
pouring between the years 1837 and 1844, as he tells us what he 
heard himself. But I cannot fully determine what he means by 
the " new angel forces " then introduced, unless it was the inspira- 
tion of " babes and sucklings," or the false and deceptive spirits 
that come to make inroads on what Ann Lee had established, but 
which were exorcised by the discerning lead. But true mediums 
then told us, the time would come when some in the outside world 
would try to claim Ann Lee, This prediction seems now to be 
somewhat fulfilled, but we object to her abduction. 

He goes on to say : " In those days the Shakers were prosper- 
ous ; " that is, in the days when the lead was respected and obeyed 
by all ; and this condition, let me say, when once more fully re- 
stored, will bring equal, if not greater prosperity than we ever 
enjoyed. But so long as a majority of the members allow them- 



The Fulfillment of the Prophecy. 187 

selves to occupy the judgment seat, and obey and disobey at 
pleasure, prosperity will remain among the impossibilities. God 
cannot bless and prosper such conditions. In fact, such are not 
Shakers at all. But again he says : " It was human to reject the 
new angel forces, but in that a birthright was forfeited." I would 
ask, what birthright ? The right for every one to do as he listed ? 
Or to change the government from a Theocracy to that of a De- 
mocracy ? Something of this sort, it seems, was what the expelled 
spirits wished to introduce. Then Christ's prayer should read : 
Thy Democracy come, instead of " Thy Kingdom come." He 
speaks truly when he says : " We were told by the spirits that 
they would leave us for a season, and turn their attention to the 
world, but it was not because we cast ont the evil spirits with their 
" new forces." But they having strengthened and established us 
on the foundation which was laid by Christ and Ann Lee — they 
conld now depart for a season ; still they have at times visited us 
to this day, and their power and influence are not yet reduced to 
the u unknown quantity." The true spirits informed us at the 
time when we were looking for a great increase, that, instead of 
this, our numbers would be reduced, and that " a great flood 
would be poured out from the mouth of the Dragon to destroy 
the woman (Ann Lee) and the remnant of her seed. (Rev. xii, 
15, 16,) but the earth would swallow the flood," and Zion would 
thereafter flourish and grow like a " well-watered garden," and 
her testimony would spread to the ends of the earth. This was 
then, and is now our hope and consolation. We next have his 
" experience as to the spiritual discernment which was manifest 
in so high a degree among the old time Shakers." He now finds 
a total inability of the lead to " discern the thoughts and intents 
of the heart." 

Admitting this, in part, to be true, it still affords no reason for 
the curtailment of the power of the land. This gift is not so 
necessary now, where an organized order exists, as it was in the 
beginning, when all were strangers and no order existed. Still 
there is much more of this discernment in the church than is ap- 
parent to an outside materialist. Greater purification in the body, 
I admit, is necessary, and a more close union and dependence in 
the gift of the lead, and a greater separation from the world and 
worldly kin, to insure the coveted blessing. I am not prepared 
to dispute the disreputable circumstances alluded to, but rather 
suppose them to be substantially true, and have been mortified 



188 



Another Daniel. 



that any Shakers should betake themselves to the dark seances of 
flesh-loving mediums in quest of purely virgin, Shaker spirits who 
had left the form. Over this I would throw a veil. 

Billings' remarks about tire, and protection therefrom by spirits, 
is far from truth. Destructive fires began with the founding of 
the institution. If I am correctly informed, Ann Lee had a 
house burned. We had our first grain barn burned here on Oct. 
6, 1810, and the Ohio Society had theirs burned the 29th of Nov., 
1807 ; all the work of incendiaries, and this, too, when we were 
on the tip-toe of expectation, and all aglow with the spirit, and 
we have had our constantly repeated cautions from the elders 
about fire ever since. So there never has been a time, with the 
thoughtful portion of our community, when no fears were in- 
dulged about fire. The true gift of healing has never left the 
Shakers. " If any are sick (of sin) and will call for their elders, 
if they have committed sins (and will confess and repent,) they 
shall be forgiven them " (and be healed,) — James, v, 16. Lastly, 
our critic confesses honestly, if reluctantly, that there is " still 
much genuine spirituality among the calm, quiet, self-denying 
brother and sister Shaker, whose chief end and aim seems to be 
how they* can do the most to bring sunshine and joy to those 
around them," and adds : " More of Christ on earth 1 never have 
seen than 1 found among this people" Then I would ask : 
Why, under high heaven, did you not stay with them? Was 
there too much of Christ to suit you ? Did you wish to be where 
there was less of Christ, and so retreat to Ancora ? Was the 
atmosphere in Shakerdom too pure and rare for your weak lungs ? 
Please rise and explain. 



GOD'S WORD. 



Notwithstanding the subject of what constitutes God's word 
has perplexed the world for ages and been widely discussed and 
much befogged by writers, so that agreement has hitherto seemed 
impossible, still, I think, it can be made plain to the common 
mind. This is the task I have now proposed for myself. It 
will first be necessary to state what we are to understand by 
the term God. It is hardly sufficient to say the " Supreme 
Being, " as a finite being may be supreme over all other finite 
beings. Such was Christ ; but Christ was not God, only as God- 
man, the Son of God. We understand the term God in its 
highest sense to mean, Infinite Spirit, omniscient and omni- 
present. Then to speak of more than one Infinite God is childish, 
equal to declaring there is no infinite God ; but being infinite in 
his presence, as well as in His power, in all worlds and places, in 
all humans and all things, at all times, makes all works His own 
except that which is changed, obstructed or counteracted by f ree 
agents, and for which the free agents are themselves accountable. 
We admit that the doctrine of free agency is disputed by some 
philosophers of note, and although we are conscious of this 
freedom, it is difficult of demonstration in the face of necessity. 

The non-acceptance of this doctrine is where the honest 
Hebrew philosopher, Benedict De Spinoza, missed, the mark, 
who, in his " Ethics," throws all acts, causes and effects back to 
infinity, making them rest with God, disagreeing with Locke, 
who thus manfully comes to the rescue : " Whatever necessity 
determines in the pursuit of real bliss, the same necessity with 
the same force establishes suspense, deliberation and scrutiny of 
each successive desire, whether the gratification of it does not 
interfere with our true happiness and mislead us from it. The 
government of the passions is the right improvement of this 
liberty, " etc. 

Now the word of God to free agents is the operation of the 
ever-present Infinite Spirit on the higher consciousness of their 
unfolding. God does not impress His word on any above and 



190 



God is Dual. 



beyond the condition to which He has unfolded them, else His 
word to them would be incomprehensible and therefore void ; 
hence it is not unreasonable to affirm that it was the same God 
or ever-present Infinite Spirit operating upon the higher con- 
sciousness and highest unfolded condition of Moses, when the 
utterance was made of " an eye for an eye, " that operated upon 
the still higher unfoldment of Christ, when the utterance was 
made to " love your enemies. " To affirm that both were equally 
God's word, affords no evidence of contradiction nor change in 
the mind of God ; it only shows that the latter had attained to a 
higher state of development than the former, comprehending the 
attributes of love and mercy, in a degree which the former had 
not reached ; thus doing away with the subterfuge that one God 
directed Moses, and another Christ, and another the Quakers and 
Shakers, and so on, losing sight of the omnipresence of God 
altogether, and concealing the grand truth that the word of God 
to all humans, heathens, Protestants, Catholics, Oneidians, 
Quakers or Shakers, is the operation of the infinite on their higher 
consciousness, which if obeyed brings present justification to each 
class. But justification is not salvation nor redemption. These 
are attainable only through Christ ; that is, by seeking until we 
find Him, where He has " placed His name for salvation, " and 
then by " walking as He walked and overcoming as He over- 
came. " 

But we say God is dual. Yery well ; but this, properly 
understood, does not destroy His unity. He is dual only in the 
subordinate sense. He exists equally in both male and female ; 
He is therefore male in the masculine, and female in the fem- 
inine. The everpresent Infinite Spirit speaking by the organs of 
the man is the Father ; the same spirit speaking by the woman 
is the Mother — His unity remaining inviolate ; and unity and 
duality are thus reconciled. 

All anti-Christian notions about a fixed throne located in space 
somewhere " twixt earth, sea and skies, are pure fiction, chimera, 
with no rational basis, as such an idea destroys the thought of 
His infinity. This, however, does not conflict with the idea of 
His kingdom in heaven, where Christ is the visible head, who is 
still directed and controlled by the operation of the Divine 
Essence on his higher consciousness, and to whom all must bow, 
angels or men. But the God that can go and come from one 
part of space to another is finite and must be some subordinate 



God's Word. 



11)1 



creature to whom the term God is applied. Moses and Jesus 
were God to the people in a subordinate sense, they being the 
highest unfolded of the race. One under the natural law, the 
other under the spiritual. The idea of the Infinite focalizing 
his whole self in either, is very absurd and finds no support in 
reason nor revelation ; because whilst operating on their conscious- 
ness, He was at the same time operating, holding and guiding 
millions of worlds and all within them. If the affirmation that 
" God cannot possibly be in any evil work " he construed to deny 
the eternal presence, then the affirmation is at fault, because God 
is either omnipresent, or He is not. If He is not, He is circum- 
scribed. If He is circumscribed, He is finite, and can be 
measured, when infinity disappears. But God is ever present, in 
the cyclone, in the fire that warms, or that which reduces cities to 
ashes. He is equally in the flint of the winged and quivering 
arrow of the wild Indian on its errand of death, as in His heart 
to condemn or approve, or in that of angels, or men on errands 
of mercy and love. That it has been His will to impart free 
agency to man, who may do evil or good at pleasure, does not 
deny in the least degree the ever-existing Eternal Presence. But 
to further elucidate, we return to Gospel ministers. Being 
appointed from above, and moved in obedience to the Infinite 
Spirit operating upon their higher consciousness, or in obedience 
to the more highly unfolded ministers or agents before them, 
when they speak or act free from every earthly bias or passional 
influence, either in or out of themselves, they simply are agents 
or tools in the hands of God, and what they say is the word of 
God, and what they do is the act of God, which would be sin 
for them to withhold or to change, and which should be freely 
accepted by all under them ; notwithstanding such ministers or 
appointed agents may have many imperfections to contend with 
in common with the rest of their brethren and sisters. Christ 
Himself was tempted in all things like His brethren. No excuse 
for disobedience to the law of Christ, or God through Him, or 
His appointees, should be made in consequence of this. Now of 
appointments : Some one or ones must be appointed to lead in 
every department of Christ's kingdom, either in heaven or on 
earth. To make it a God-appointment, the appointing power 
must be freed from selfishness and passional bias. Then such 
appointments should be acquiesced in by all. Because some such 
fail to properly fulfill the call, is no argument against this con- 



192 



Christianity not Democracy. 



elusion. One of Christ's was a failure. The false but popular 
democratic cry of " Vox populi, Vox Dei," is at variance with 
the whole genius, tenor, structure and very existence of Christ's 
kingdom, which is a Theocracy pure and simple, and every iota 
of democracy that finds lodgment therein only has a tendency to 
lower its status and cause it to interblend with the kingdoms and 
communities of the world, and make it both " common and 
unclean. " Ours is the antipode of democracy — the one being 
the government of God, the other of men ; the heads of one 
being appointed by G-od above them, the heads of the other by 
men below them. The one is from above, the other from 
beneath. 

When Christ said to the Pharisees in the temple, " Ye are 
from beneath, I am from above, " He did not mean that they 
came from some nether world up through a hole in the ground 
any more than He did that He came down from some supernal 
world through a hole in the sky. He simply meant to convey to 
them that they were actuated from the lower regions and 
impulses, whilst His promptings were from the higher — theirs 
from beneath, His from above. But they were natural and 
carnal and could not understand Him. " You have not chosen 
me, but I have chosen you, " said Christ, and so it must remain 
in solid contrast with all other communities of earth. We are 
not chosen by the world, but chosen out of the world. 

All the external gazing and clatter about this great day of 
scientific progress which is attempting to make of Christ a myth, 
and to shun His cross ; and all the twaddle about more elbow 
room, throwing off priestly shackles, and asserting personal rights 
and removing necessary restrictions within the kingdom, comes 
from an overweening conceit and a restless, worldly, animal nature 
that is ever pleading for more indulgence. It never comes from 
the truly spiritual side of their being. This, under all circum- 
stances, is ever childlike, simple, unobtrusive, thankful, prayer- 
ful, meek, loving, good, forbearing, forgiving, unretaliating, holy, 
happy and angelic. Who would not choose this state at the 
expense of fettering and crucifying the world within ? 



REPLY TO KEY. DR. TALMAGE. 



LITERAL RESURRECTION, 



Text. — JVoio this I say, "brethren, that flesh and blood cannot 
inherit the 'kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit 
incorruption. — 1 Col. xv, 50. 
When such a prominent individual as the Rev. Dr. Talmage 
can stand up in the latter half of the nineteenth century, before 
an audience of intellectual men and women in one of our most 
populous cities, with a display of rhetoric seldom equaled, and 
advocate the literal resurrection of the animal body, and his 
ecstatic rhapsodies be received with approval, it would seem that 
the wheel of progress had rolled back two hundred years in the 
ages, and that there was little place in the world for the unfold- 
ment of truth. But while the world seems thus floating away on 
the tide of error, it becomes the duty of all who see it, especially 
every minister, to do all that is in his power to check its down- 
ward course. It is no time for any such one to stand idle. In 
the case under consideration, there is so much spread-eagleism 
and that which is merely sensational, together with much sophis- 
try and unsound reasoning and mystery, all covered up by fine 
drapery, and made so fascinating, that people seem little inclined 
to go behind the tinsel and outside glitter in quest of truth. For 
this reason I feel it a duty to review a portion of the Doctor's 
Easter discourse, at least sufficient to show the sandy foundation 
on which it rests. I feel some diffidence in doing this because x)i 
his many good labors, but this being a matter of grave impor- 
tance, I shrink not from duty. 

THE SEED OF REPRODUCTION. 

First — He says : "If God had not kept on creating men, the 
world, fifty times over, would have swung lifeless through the 
air ; not a foot stirring, not a heart beating, a ship without a 
helmsman, etc." This is a mistake. When God created the 
25 



194 



Physical, Molecular Returns. 



heavens and the earth and all therein, He left every thing with 
" seed within itself " and laws for its reproduction, " each to propa- 
gate after its kind ; " and nothing could be spoken more derog- 
atory to the character of God than to affirm that He created and 
was still creating all the thieves, murderers, whoremasters and 
adulterers that now disgrace the planet on which they are per- 
mitted to dwell. 

THE UNION OF BODY AND SOUL. 

Secondly — "Heathen philosophers," he says, " guessed at the 
immortality of the soul, but never dreamed that the body would 
get up and join it," and adds, " this idea is scriptural and beyond 
reasoning." He afterward says, though it is beyond reason it is 
"nevertheless reasonable." But, having pronounced it beyond 
reason, he should have informed his audience by what process of 
induction, or deduction, he found it to be in accordance with 
reason. But, having thus pronounced it, he gives us the liberty 
of trying it in that crucible. Law and order are essential attri- 
butes of Deity ; hence he has not made laws for the purpose of 
showing us how often and how easily he could violate them. All 
deviations from the laws of God are the works of man. God is 
not chargeable with them. There is no regression in Him who 
is Himself law and that law is eternal and unchangeable. He said 
of man: "Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return," and 
since then He has not changed His mind. The scriptures, prop- 
erly understood, are reasonable, but they cannot be saddled with 
the story which " philosophers had not dreamed of," that the 
body, after having returned to dust — gone to gases and isolated 
molecules — would on some certain day, when an angel would 
blow a big trumpet in the upper air, burst up through holes in 
the ground, and first call back the molecules and gases, though 
millions of miles away, to take their respective places and posi- 
tions in order to re-form the original bodies of babies, boys, girls, 
women and men ; then after their bodies were made by the action 
of the particles themselves, the air would be filled with spirits 
flying hither and thither in quest of the bodies they formerly oc- 
cupied ! It is no wonder that this had not entered the dreamy 
heads of heathen philosophers, and I would very respectfully in- 
form the reverend divine that the Bible nowhere, properly un- 
derstood, sustains the ludicrous statement. 



Literal Resurrection. 



195 



AS TO BODIES EATEN BY CANNIBALS. 

Thirdly — In his remarks regarding bodies eaten by cannibals 
he simply begs the question by asserting, " There is no proof that 
the earth part of the human body can ever be absorbed in another 
body," when there is the same evidence for this that there is for 
any other substance. Such subterfuges do any thing but honor 
those who resort to them. The fact is, he saw that if it went to 
form a part of the cannibal's body there would be no possibility 
of deciding to which body it belonged in the resurrection, well 
knowing that God Himself could not make the same particle of 
matter occupy two points in space at the same time. Thus his 
whole theory would be spoiled beyond restoration, and the mate- 
rial resurrection of the same bodies become an impossibility. But 
he thinks he found a hole to crawl out at by asking : " Could 
not God make a substitute for the part absorbed by the cannibal ? " 
That is to say : Could not God make a law and then break it? 
He then adds : " For the good resurrected man would rather not 
have the part of his body returned which the cannibal had eaten 
and digested." But he makes no provision for the bad boys and 
girls eaten by cannibals. I presume they have no choice in the 
matter and are left to fight over it in the great day of the resur- 
rection. But this is just another thing that philosophers had not 
thought of. ]STow, if by far the larger portion of all animal bodies 
is water, and especially that of man, then in the great day of 
resurrection the larger half of all that were ever on the earth's 
surface will be floating in rain clouds or in rivers, or boiling and 
tumbling in tidal waves in lakes, seas and oceans ; the other half 
in building up trees, grass, flowers, shrubs, animals and man. 
How are they to be separated and brought back to the first 
human body of which they formed a part, as they have since 
formed a part of myriads of other bodies ? Again : Has God so 
far violated His laws as to give thought to matter, to dust, to 
thus reform itself ? Or does the spirit go in search for its matter ? 
and, when found, how can it know its own molecules and gases, 
when Omnipotence Himself can find no difference in them ? 
Oxygen and hydrogen are the same in both beasts and men. 
Oxygen is oxygen and hydrogen is hydrogen wherever found — 
nothing more, nothing less. What avails it, then, if the resur- 
rected body has for its largest half the oxygen and hydrogen that 
were in a buffalo or bear, seeing there is not an iota of difference 



196 



Resurrected Corpses. 



between what the bear contained and what the man contained. 
These are not pictures, but facts. 

PHYSICAL CHANGES. 

Fourthly — He further says: "Objectors say a man's body 
changes every ten years, so that a man of seventy years old has 
had seven distinct bodies." This is true, but his conclusion does 
not follow that such changes of the matter of the body gave him a 
plurality of heads and also fourteen feet. The fact is indisputable 
that the body changes from childhood to old age, but it no more 
gives seven distinct heads than the shedding of leaves and bark of 
a tree would make of it seven distinct trees. The Doctor cannot be 
serious. This is only a subtile evasion to support a false theory 
at the expense of truth. 

" PURELY SENSATIONAL." 

Fifthly — The Doctor informs us that the Bible distinctly 
states " that it is the body that goes down to the grave that will 
come up again." I will inform him that the Bible makes no such 
distinct statement ; and further, it makes no statement touching 
the resurrection but what may be shown to appertain to the resur- 
rection of the spirit without reference to the body. Whereas 
there are many texts that cannot be tortured into the sense of 
a resurrected corpse. "Witness: " The time is coming and now 
is; " " I am the resurrection and the life ; " " Flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of God." But if the identical body 
that is buried is to rise, then we had all better die in youth, so as 
to have the better body. But just here the speaker seems to be 
tangled in his own skein, and tosses it off, saying : " Let us get 
out of this." And suddenly he sails off to the top of the Cats- 
kill Mountains, and here gives us a grand panorama of the resur- 
rection scene as follows : " The arrows of light shot from heaven ; 
the mists went skurring up and down like horsemen in wild re- 
treat. The fogs were lifted, and dashed and whirled, when the 
whole valley became a grand illumination and there were horses 
of fire, and chariots of fire, and thrones of fire, and flapping of 
wings, and angels of fire — gradually, without sound of trumpet 
or roll of wheels, they moved off, and the green valley looked up, " 
etc. Grand as this is, it is purely sensational, with little sense 
and little bearings on the subject under consideration. 



Literal Resurrection. 



197 



RESURRECTION OF THE SPIRIT. 

Sixthly — He continues : " Various Scripture accounts say the 
work of grave-breaking will begin with the blasts of trumpets 
and shouting." * * "Millions flying toward the tomb, crying, 
Make way, O grave ! Give us back our body ! " The Scriptures 
nowhere give any such account of shouting and trumpets at grave- 
breaking. He must have known his audience did not spend their 
Sundays reading them. Christ says : " The hour is coming, and 
now is the hour, when the dead (in sin) shall hear the voice of 
the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." John, v, 25. 
This gives the key to unlock the text quoted by the Doctor him- 
self. " They that are in the graves of sin, or are now buried in 
sin, shall come forth," etc. This is doubtless the true exegesis, as 
it then conflicts with no other scripture. The Bible nowhere une- 
quivocally says that the material body of any one shall be raised 
up from the earth and taken into heaven. Such idea is wholly at 
variance with the whole tenor of the New Testament scriptures 
when properly and harmoniously understood. The saying of the 
apostle that it is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption 
inevitably has reference to it, the body, sown in corruption, and 
it, the spirit, raised in incorruption. The expression is similar to 
Christ's, where he says : " He that would save his life shall lose 
it," etc., meaning he that will save the carnal life shall lose the 
spiritual life. And further : If the body sown was corrupt, and 
the one raised incorrupt, they could not be the same body. Were 
this not so, then the body would have the preference over the 
spirit, and what would be done with the corrupt spirit that in- 
herited the corrupt body ? When will its time come to be resur- 
rected from its dead estate ? Nay, my friends, the immortal spirit 
is all the part that is a subject of the resurrection. The material 
form when once put off is no more a part of the man nor woman 
than any other dead matter, but simply " dust returned to dust," 
as God has decreed. The body is only a clog to the soul before it 
is put off, and would be no less so if returned. I here repeat the 
declaration of the beloved apostle : 16 Flesh and blood cannot in- 
herit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit in- 
corruption." From this it is impossible that the corrupt body 
can inherit incorruption. Besides, the corpse or body that goes 
to the earthly grave is flesh and blood which cannot inherit the 
kingdom of God. So, in order to enter the kingdom, the flesh 



198 



Is Dr. Talmage Sincere? 



and blood must be removed, the bare bones only remaining to enter 
the kingdom, which would cut a rather ghastly figure in heaven 
among saints and archangels. 

MATTER AND SPIRIT. 

Seventhly— The Doctor further pictures the scene as follows: 
At the great trumpet's blast " thousands of spirits arise from the 
fields of Waterloo, Gettysburg, South Mountain Pass, etc.," all 
hunting up their old bodies ! " The whole air full of spirits — 
spirits flying north, south, east and west. Crash goes the West- 
minster Abbey, as all the dead Kings, orators and poets get up 
searching among the rooms — William Wilberforce, the good, 
Queen Elizabeth, the bad ! Crash ! go the pyramids, and monarchs 
of Egypt rise out of the desert. Snap ! go the iron gates of 
modern vaults. All kings of the earth, all the great men, all the 
beggars, all the victors, all the vanquished, all the infants, all the 
Octogenarians. All ! All ! Not one straggler left behind. All! All! 
And now the air is darkened with the fragments of bodies that are 
coming together from the four corners of the earth ; lost limbs find- 
ing their mates, bone to bone, sinew to sinew, till every bone finds its 
socket, etc." One can scarcely believe the Doctor to be sincere. 
He seems to forget, as I have shown, that ninety-nine hun- 
dredths of the mortal bodies that have passed from earth, even 
within the last 6,000 years, have been in their turn grass, tree, 
animal, man, etc., and are still swinging around the circle of 
vegetable and animal life, and that, before these amputated limbs 
and fingers could get wings to fiy through and darken the air, the 
properties to make up these limbs would have to come from the 
bottom of the ocean and other remote distances, and out of living 
structures; the oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, electricity 
and finest molecules of matter must be by affinitive attraction 
drawn together to form the bone of such arm, such finger, and 
that, after the bone particles had found their mates, and bone 
formed, then would flesh and blood, etc., commingle, and attach 
to it, when the work would be complete. To accomplish this, 
God would have a more impossible work to perform than He had 
in creating the universe, and a far more inconsistent one ; and as 
all this would be in 

VIOLATION OF HIS OWN LAWS 

and edicts, it becomes evident that no such thing as physical 
resurrection of the same body is possible. But the Doctor 



Literal Resurrection. 199 



further says, that God would supply those who died with a limb 
or an eye lacking, and would also re-form the crooked, lame and 
humpbacked. This would do away with the necessity of extra 
limbs being made of their former materials somewhere in the 
woods, and then setting off on a flying journey in quest of the 
body to which they were formerly attached. But the further I 
pursue the subject the more ludicrous, silly and senseless it 
appears ; and the wonderment is, that any man in this age of 
the world, with the brain and talent of the Doctor, could be 
induced to publicly advocate so great an absurdity of the mate- 
rial resurrection of the same bodies that had been put off and 
returned to dust, as he could not help knowing that in order to 
get the same body that went into the grave he must of necessity 
get the identical particles that went down, and the very same 
gases, the same electricity, the same particles of salt, of sulphur, 
of lime, of iron, and all others that it contained ; and, as before 
shown, he mnst have known that the same atoms of matter, or 
by far the larger half of all the dead, had been incorporated in 
building other bodies scores of times. He must have known this, 
and at once seen that the thing would be impossible to the 
Infinite, let alone the possibility of dead matter searching for 
dead matter, as though it had thought and understanding. I say 
he must, with his capacious brain, have known these things, 
which are indisputable ; and how he could make the utterance of 
its possibility is beyond my comprehension. Beside, if distinct 
matter had to be supplied to re-form all the living bodies that 
have ever existed or may exist on the earth's bosom, it would be 
a question whether our planet could supply the demand ! I can 
conceive of many questions that might be propounded on scrip- 
tural grounds that may be construed to support the Doctor's posi- 
tion, but none that give him support when properly understood. 
To name and explain them all would detain you too long. At 
present I would call your attention to one or two subjects of 
importance : " And they came and held Him by the feet ; " 
" And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, He 
(Christ) said unto them : Have ye here any meat? and they gave 
Him a piece of broiled fish and an honeycomb." — Luke xxiv, 
41-4:3. This is taken as positive evidence that Christ was there 
in the resurrected material body, 

AS SPIRIT CANNOT EAT MATTER. 



200 



That Descended, Ascended. 



This was doubtless done to substantiate their belief, quiet their 
minds, and make them familiar and conversable. What became 
of the body, if it did not rise into life ? I answer by asking, 
what became of the body of Moses ? If it was necessary to con- 
ceal it to prevent idolatry, it was more necessary in the case of 
Christ's body, and, as stated, His body was flesh and blood, and 
could not enter God's kingdom. Besides, the Scriptures plainly 
declare that the same " that descended, ascended." — Eph. iv, 10- 
We know the body did not come down from heaven, conse- 
quently did not ascend. u As they thus spake Jesus himself 
stood in the midst of them, and saith, Peace be unto you. But 
they were terrified and affrighted, supposing they had seen a 
spirit ; and He said unto them, Why are ye troubled ? Behold 
my hands, my feet, that it is I, myself ; handle me and see ; for 
a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. And when 
He had spoken He showed them His hands and His side." — Luke 
xxiv, 36-10. " The same day in the evening He appeared in the 
midst of them when the doors were shut," and so on various 
occasions. It is argued that 

MATTER CANNOT SEE SPIRIT. 

But the disciples saw Jesus, therefore it was the natural body they 
saw. This is sound reason. That matter cannot see spirit is 
granted, but the person may be spiritually conditioned to see 
and handle and feel spirit, just as the apostles did the feet of 
the Saviour. The representation of the side, hands and feet 
at once got their sympathy and rendered them familiar. For 
this it was surely and wisely done ; but that the stone had to 
be rolled away from the mouth of the sepulchre to admit the 
egress of the material body shows clearly that it was a different 
body that entered while the doors were shut. Hence, it is clear 
that it was spiritual, and that the disciples were conditioned by 
spirit influence and power to enable them to see, feel and converse 
with their Lord. Christ's work was spiritual and His kingdom 
spiritual. And as spirit cannot become matter, nor matter be- 
come spirit, and our work is spiritual, for spirit redemption, we 
may let the old body alone when once put off, not forgetting by 
any mean's the significant, true and weighty words of the Apostle 
John : " All shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto 
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the 
resurrection of damnation." — John v, 29. 



THE JUDGMENT OF SIN. 



NO TUTELARY DEITIES. 

Text. — For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of the 
Father, with His angels, and then He shall reward every 
man according to his works. — Matt, xvi, 27. 

Before entering on the main subject of my discourse, I will 
offer, by way of prelude, a few remarks concerning tutelary 
deities. It would seem that some minds of ordinary intelligence 
have imbibed the idea that there are grades of deities in the spirit 
world who are sent to this planet as occasion requires, to occupy 
God's place in certain emergencies, while the Almighty absents 
Himself ; that is to say, when God finds His people too rebellious 
to be guided by Him, He retires after appointing a tutelary 
deity to occupy His place for the time being ! Such ones cannot 
see how imperfect counsels can come from Deity, and think in 
this way to exculpate Him. Hence we hear it said that the God 
of Israel was not the God of the universe, because we now see 
that some of those counsels were not up with our present stand- 
ard of perfection, by which rule of judgment, if carried out, we 
should have a different God for all denominations of people and 
exclude Deity from our planet ! Each denomination, however, 
would claim theirs to be the true God and consider all others sub- 
stituted, while it is the same God for each and all, operating on 
their present unfolded conditions. It is even so in the smallest 
animalcule, the lowest savage up to the highest archangel. There 
are some things which are impossible to the Infinite, and one is, 
He cannot absent Himself from any point in space without losing 
His infinity. Even Mahomet spoke truly when he said: " There 
is no God but God. Will they give to God companion deities 1 " 

The idea is heathenish and came from heathen land. There 
can exist no such beings as tutelary deities in an independent 
sense. A tutelary is a guardian, and it is unwarrantable to apply 
the term Deity to such, as Deity signifies the attributes that con- 
26 



202 



Evolution Of Godliness. 



stitute the Supreme Being. It is wholly unnecessary, as some 
have contended, to have recourse to what they term tutelary 
deities, or God-appointed Gods, to account for erroneous com- 
mands, passional display or defective counsels to God's people. 
These can be accounted for in a much more reasonable way. It 
should be remembered that the infinite God of the universe does 
not operate retroactively upon any object, spiritual nor material. 
He does not, as Professor Bush says, " roll up planets like balls 
[I quote from memory] and toss them from himself as the child 
does his football." God is not dependent on any thing to make 
known His will ; He has but one mode of operation. He evolves, 
unfolds, within — speaks within the soul of man. The proof of 
this rests on the fact that any other mode would involve retro- 
action and make Him a dependent being. It discovers 

NO INCONSISTENCY IN DEITY ; 

that what is given with the unfoldment of to-day may be super- 
seded to-morrow; or that what is sinless with the light of to-day 
may be sinful with the light of to-morrow. If we are faithful to 
listen to and obey the monitions within, ours will be a perpetual 
increase in the light and knowledge of God, because He operates 
on the unfolding of every day, every hour, every minute and 
every second of our existence, so that in the passing of one mo- 
ment it may be sinful to repeat what was sinless a moment before. 
In this consists spiritual progression. To-day, if your highest 
light directs you to engage in generation, it were sinless to obey. 
If at this instant your light increases, by the unfoldment of God's 
evoluting power, or by the teaching of His agents, enabling you 
to see the beauties of the Christ-life of regeneration, that it is a 
higher, more angelic and more godly condition, your duty then 
calls you out of the world and former life into the new and 
superior condition, because now to practice the old would be sin- 
ful, bring compunction and God's displeasure. If not, why 
should the higher light be given ? It is then clear that what may 
be sinless and right for one person, or a body of persons, to-day, 
may at the same time be sinful to another person or body of 
persons, without involving change, vacillation, or any inconsist- 
ency in Deity. Finite beings only operate externally to, on and 
with each other. All words or sounds that are, have been, or 
ever will be conveyed externally on waves of the vibrating atmos- 
phere to human ear, come, came, and will come from finite 



The Judgment of Sin. 



203 



agencies or matter in motion. Who ever hears spirit voices or 
sees spirit forms must first be spiritually conditioned to enable 
them to do so. But spirits do speak by the organs of conditioned 
mediums and give us news from beyond the vale. Normally the 
minds most unfolded in the body speak the more perfect word to 
the less unfolded, while God is within them both. Hence by 
God's unfolding the normal mind, and by inspirations from 
angels above, He has established His order, by obedience to 
which 

ALL ARE BROUGHT INTO HARMONY 

with Him exactly in proportion as they conform to it. Thus we 
see He has law and order in all things — order in the universe? 
order in creation, order in the human race — which order is His 
judgment seat, and by which tribunal all have to be tried, judged 
and condemned, or acquitted. This has been the case in all past 
history, from Adam to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to John the 
Baptist, to Jesus, to Ann Lee, in His second appearing. So that 
all the teachings of God's appointed agents, which have been and 
are uninfluenced by the selfish animal or passional nature, have 
been and are from God, and adapted to the state and unfolded 
condition of the race, which to obey in the day and time given is 
to obey God and insure present harmony with Him, consequently 
present peace and happiness. In the advanced stage of humanity 
many things would be defects now that were not defects then, 
and many things that now seem perfect and are best for the pres- 
ent conditions may, in the future, be quite imperfect and even 
sinful. I repeat that God cannot withdraw from any point in 
space at any moment. To say that a man or woman, or a people, 
is or are God-forsaken, does not mean that Deity is absent, but 
God, for the time being, ceases to strive with those who persist in 
disobedience — disregarding the monitions of conscience. It may 
be said of such that God has withdrawn or left such ones to reap 
the reward of their disobedience. Still " God is present every- 
where, beholding the evil and the good." 

" He warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
Glows in the stars and blossoms in the trees, 
Lives thro' all life, extends thro' all extent, 
Spreads undivided and operates unspent." 

Should we deny, as some do, that the God of the universe was 
the God of typical Israel, we in the same breath and for the 



204 



The Day of Judgment. 



same reason, deny that He is the God of the Shakers, or that He 
has been at work in man from Adam to our day, or is at work in 
His Zion now. On the same grounds He is denied of one, He 
is denied of all. If our God is the God of the universe, and 
Israel's God was not, there could be no agreement between law 
and gospel — type and antitype, and we should thus limit Him, 
who is unconditioned as to space, and therefrom omnipresent, 
and unconditioned as to time, and therefore eternal and unchange- 
able. 

THAT GOD IS OMNIPRESENT 

and unchangeable, all philosophers of note affirm. Locke 
says : " Motion cannot be attributed to God, because He 
is infinite spirit. " But all nations and all peoples, by their 
greatest minds, unite on one invisible, omnipotent, omni- 
present and unchangeable Deity, and, how much soever atheistic 
infidels strive to doubt, there is a force and power that make 
them realize the fact that there is a cause of their being and of 
their intelligence and for the existence of the harmonious 
universe ; and the power within that forces this confession must 
be the operation of that inexplicable something that the world 
calls God. If then we predicate, as we are forced to do, 
unchangeability of this ever present Deity operating within, it 
becomes impossible for Him to operate directly on objects from 
without. Without and within are contradictory. This, then, 
being impossible, it follows that He cannot focalize Himself 
external to man, ascend a great white throne and occupy a judg- 
ment seat, hear evidence for and against and acquit or condemn 
the human race. Hence the great day of judgment so much 
spoken of by pulpit orators, at which time the infinite God is to 
sit as Judge, becomes an impossibility. But " the Son of Man 
shall come with His angels " for this purpose. Christ Himself 
gave us the key to unlock the mystery of the judgment when He 
said to His disciples : " Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remit- 
ted unto them ; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. " 
— John xx, 23. This, then, was God's judgment seat, and veri- 
fies God's order, before spoken of. It is now His judgment seat, 
for God will not have two judgment seats, and the great judg- 
ment day will come to each one " in the twinkling of an eye. " 
It follows from this that Deity alone cannot forgive sin. Why ? 
Don't be startled. Because He has established an order among 
finite beings for that purpose, and, being changeless, He will not 



The Judgment of JSin. 



205 



disestablish it. Hence no souls can be fully and finally forgiven 
until they have found God's order and come to His judgment 
there. It becomes a matter of importance, then, to each and all 
to seek until they find this order, if such order has an existence. 
But this does not deny 

THE PRESENCE OF THE SAME GOD 

in all sects and denominations to whom invocations are made and 
worship is given. But their name is legion who " ask and 
receive not, because they ask amiss that they may consume it 
upon their lusts. " — James iv, 3. If sin can be forgiven as 
well and as fully by God without His order as with it, the order 
would then be useless ; but all history shows that God has ever 
had His order for the time being among men. His final order 
for full restoration is in Christ, both in His first and second 
appearing. To this order and seat of judgment all must bow, of 
angels or men. Here, at this throne of judgment, all mountains 
sink and valleys rise (the high and low are brought on a level), 
forming, " as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them 
that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image, 
and over his mark, and over the number of his name stand on 
the sea of glass (all on a perfect level), having the harps of 
God." — Rev. xv, 2. This order of God was the sign seen in 
Heaven by the revelator, when all the high and lofty, the Kings, 
Queens, lords, ladies and gentlemen, stand on a level with the 
lowest peasant. All such as come to this seat of judgment in 
time "their sins go beforehand into judgment" and " their 
sins and iniquities, saith God, will I remember no more. " 
— Heb. x, 17. How merciful is God ! But I hear it said : 
If I cease from disobeying God and of committing sins which 
I have been guilty of, what good can it do for me to make 
them known to another ? Answer : It is impossible for them to 
be forgiven until the forgiving power knows what they are. God 
has established the seat of judgment and appointed the Judge, 
who is the light of the world, to whom the deeds must be 
brought, and your disturbed harmony can never be restored with- 
out doing so. Still, if you so elect, you may cease committing 
certain sins and carry them concealed in your bosom for years, 
employ your talents in God's service, be respected and loved, yet 
to do this light they must finally be exposed, or complete salvation 
will be unattainable. God has settled this question. The truth 



206 



The Forgiveness of Sin. 



of this is based not duly on the Scriptures, but on the predicate 
acknowledged by all of the stability and unchangeability of God, 
and there is 

NO WAY OF EVADING IT 

any more than there is of dodging the tomb. Black as are your 
sins, to this light they must finally be exposed, and, though we 
cease to commit them, those that remain unconfessed will be 
leaden weights on the soul ; besides, " He that covereth his sins 
shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall 
find mercy. " (Prov. xxviii, 13.) If covered . sin in one indi- 
vidual prevents his prosperity, what will it be to a family or body 
where there are ten, twenty, fifty or one hundred and fifty out 
of two hundred that have sins of any kind willfully covered ? 
They may mingle together and come and go and walk and talk 
and sing and pray and work and play and eat and sleep, but 
spiritual prosperity for such family is impossible. To prosper 
such body spiritually is an impossibility with God. But if they 
confess and forsake they shall find mercy, they shall find pros- 
perity. E"ow, I defy the whole world of religion, philosophy, 
reason or logic to disprove the conclusion arrived at on the judg- 
ment seat of God, while admitting Deity to be omnipresent and 
changeless. I do not say it boastingly, but to fasten it as with 
steel rivets on the mind. Let me still make it plainer. Any sin 
committed by an individual, secret or otherwise, destroys the 
harmony between him and God, his maker. Heaven is lost ; but 
a merciful God has established the plan by which this harmony 
can be restored. If, through weakness or want of watchfulness, 
a sin should be committed, compunction follows. If God with- 
out, in the visible order, be ignorant of the transgression, God 
within knoweth and reproacheth, and the soul finds no abiding 
peace until repentance is found and confession is made 
in God's appointed order — restoration made and satisfaction 
given to an injured party, if any. When this is done, for- 
giveness and acceptance are obtained, and the broken harmony 
is again restored, both in the visible and invisible relation, because 
they are blended — " their wings touch each other. " When the 
soul has done this, God Himself, and heaven, and angels can 
require no more. The sin is forgiven. 

THESE VISIBLE AGENTS OF GOD, 

perfect in one sense, imperfect in another, always teaching as 



The Judgment of Sin. 



207 



tliej are taught of God, according to their unfoldment and pow- 
ers of receptivity, do administer to those below them ; thus, what 
the finite does, the infinite does — simply because it is His oper- 
ation on their highest unfoldment. So it has been, so it is now, 
and so it ever will be through all time and eternity — men and 
angels always approximating, but never reaching, the entirety of 
the infinite ; ever having the great God to worship and adore ; 
themselves changing from bad to good, to better, while God 
remains changeless. Thus agent after agent, in all the cycles of 
time, with greater unfoldment of additional light, will teach as 
they are taught of God ; and thus, instead of having God absent, 
we do away with independent tutelaries and foreign Christs, and 
so preserve reason, consistency and truth. It is improper to say 
God permeates all things as light permeates glass. This would 
imply change and retroaction, which are denied ; but He 
is in all things, " as perfect in a hair as heart. " But should 
it be insisted that God operates from without externally on 
objects, like men and angels do, by sound or otherwise, this 
would place Him under necessity. He would then have need of 
atmospheric air or other medium to convey His word and will, 
and His infinity would thus be destroyed. Again, if He has the 
external action and is omnipotent, this would obviate the necessity 
of any agent or order either with men or angels on earth or in 
heaven. He would be all-sufficient. But that such external 
order and agents do exist and have existed — are and have been 
appointed and commissioned from the earliest history of the 
world — is proof positive that God does not operate externally ; 
and since He does not, herein lies the absolute necessity of a 
visible order and seat of judgment, and confirms the declaration 
that all external operations are those of finite agencies, either 
spirit or mortal. This point then, I think, is proved. I am still 
asked, how are we to know that such and such agents are God- 
appointed % That is just what cavilers said to Christ — " Is not 
this Jesus, whose father and mother we know ? " — ■ John vi, 42, 
and " Master, we would have a sign from Thee. " But He 
answered and said : " An evil and adulterous generation seeketh 
after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it. " I would say, 
let their life and testimony be the sign. If they ask you to 
vary from the life of Christ, you need not obey ; but if they ask 
you to live the Christ life, and you will do it, you will not want 
a sign. Persons finding the visible order of God, and seeing 



208 



The Judgment Seat. 



His attributes externally manifested by finite agents to them and 
to the world in a higher degree than they have attained to, who, 
through pride or any of the lower impulses, refuse to acknowl- 
edge, yield to and be led by it, are foolish indeed. This would 
be trifling away their day, call and opportunity. But still more 
foolish are those who, having seen, blended with and " tasted of 
the good things of God and the powers of the world to come " 
[Heb. vi, -±], revealed to them in and through the visible order, 
turn their "backs upon it because their ideal of perfection is not 
found in it, constitute themselves judges, and say : " Who is 
Moses ? Are not all God's people holy ? " 

The same that existed in the type appears in the substance, as 
some even of authority say of the anointed Lead : " Who are they 
more than others ? Are not others as D'ood as thev ? Does not the 
Christ-spirit dwell in and administer to all the good ? I do not 
believe in one worm of the dust bowing before another worm of 
the dust " — forgetting the gracious words of Mother Ann Lee, 
who, when some would do her reverence, said : " It is not me 
you love, but God in me. " The mere persons of the anointed 
first Lead neither want nor deserve more reverence than other 
persons equally good. But God, in His order visible must be 
reverenced, or the invisible God will not accept your reverence. 
So it will be wasted adoration. The Apostle Paul says it is 
impossible to renew such to repentance, because they have cruci- 
fied to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to open 
shame. Heb. vi, 6. Such ones, at least, prepare themselves for 
the earth (earthly nature) to open her mouth and swallow them 
up, though in tears and mourning, as was done in the type. They 
seem not to realize the fact that to reject the visible is also to 
reject the invisible and leave them without hope in this or any 
other world ! They may look up and strive to see the great God 
in whom they trust, but this sight is only 

RESERVED EOR THE PURE IN HEART, 

few as they are, and these can only see Him in the spirit faces 
and life of His order of appointed agents and people. So, let 
the "exalted imagination'' comedown and look for God where 
He may be seen — where He is pleased to manifest Himself. I 
repeat again, here is His judgment seat before which all must 
bow, of angels or men — for it is impossible that a changeless 
God should establish an order of judgment with exceptions to it. 



The Judgment of Sin. 



209 



So, then, it follows that obedience to this order when found is 
man's only chance for full redemption. I cannot too often repeat 
that it is impossible for a changeless Infinite Being to focalize 
and show Himself external to man, only as He is pleased to 
reveal Himself through the finite. " They that have seen Me," 
said Christ, " have seen the Father " — seen the attributes of the 
Father manifested to them. 

By seeing Christ they did not see the Infinite wholeness. This, 
Christ Himself never saw, nor ever will see. " No man hath 
seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the 
bosom of the Father, Pie hath declared Him." — John i, 18. 
But Christ was His judgment seat ; after Flim His disciples 
were — " All that my Father hath given me have I given them ; " 
next, " The saints shall judge the world " — 1 Cor. i, 2 ; " For 
behold the Lord cometh in myriads of His saints to execute judg- 
ment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them 
of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, 
and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have 
spoken" — Jude 14 and 15 ; "and the kingdom and dominion 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall 
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High ; " "and 
the judgment was set and the books were opened." — Dan. vii, 
10 and 27. Do not now, with Pope, begin to doubt, saying: 

"I know 

The saints must merit God's peculiar care, 
But whom but God can tell us who they are ! " 

" Seek and ye shall find ; knock and it shall be opened unto 
you." — Matt, vii, 7. 

" For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house 
of God, and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end of them 
that obey not the gospel of God ? " — 1 Peter iv, 17. 

Thus have I shown you from sacred writ what the judgment 
is, and what its purposes are. I have also shown you that it 
accords with philosophy, reason, logic and sound sense — have 
made it plain to the common and uncommon understanding. I 
have shown that God cannot forgive your sins without confession, 
and that to His visible order. Then, as you value your soul, 
hesitate not, but come at once to the judgment, that your " sins 
may be blotted out," and the angel life attained to in this world. 
Lo, then, let all who hear — let all who read this in any part of 
the world, of any nation, kindred or tongue — consider them- 
27 



210 



The Judgment of Sin. 



selves invited to come, with a life insurance in God's kingdom on 
earth. All that are sick of the world and world of sin, all who 
desire a higher and better life than the world affords, all who 
feel that they have a soul to be saved or lost, all, all may con- 
sider themselves invited. Are you a King, or are you a Queen ? 
Consider yourselves invited. Are you Emperor or Empress, or 
President, statesman or lawyer, doctor or religionist of any de- 
nomination ? You are invited. Are you rich, or are you poor ? 
Are you male or female, white, black or yellow ? You are in- 
vited to come. The gates stand ajar waiting your arrival. Come 
to a merciful judgment, and it will soon be known whether you 
are a fit subject for a seat in the kingdom. " Come now, let us 
reason together," saith the Lord. " Though your sins be as scar 
let, they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like crim- 
son, they shall be white as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, 
ye shall eat the good of the land." — Isa. i, 18, 19. Come now, 
" consult not with flesh and blood." Are you married % " Come, 
let your eyes be made single that your bodies may be full of 
light, for while it is evil (double), the body is full of darkness." — 
Luke xii, 34. Are you single ? Come, that you may be married 
to Christ. Are you athirst ? Come, partake of the waters of 
life freely and live. Come, I say again, to God's merciful judg- 
ment, for know ye of a certainty that at some time every one of 
you must be judged for the " deeds done in the body, whether 
they be good or whether they be evil." " For the Son of Man 
shall come in the glory of the Father with His angels, and then 
He will reward every man according to his works." Amen ! 



INFIDEL MISTAKES. 



Ingersoll Shaken. 

Text. — For the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him ; neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually discerned. — [First 
Cor. ii, 14. 

Every honest man will, while commenting on the writings of 
another, give them a rational construction when it is possible 
to do so. The Bible, which the Colonel assails with such 
vehement vituperation and sarcastic epithets, he may find is not 
so easily demolished as he has supposed. A book which contains 
ages in a chapter, and a book in a verse, needs the most profound 
study to be even partially understood. He informs us that this 
book was made from a jumble of nnpnnctuated Hebrew conso- 
nants. That such a book could be produced of such material speaks 
much in its praise, and affords much evidence of its original inspi- 
ration. We find it to be a book speaking of three worlds — the 
macrocosm, the microcosm and the spiritual — • sometimes of one, 
sometimes of another, and sometimes of all three in very close con- 
nection. We find it also abounding, besides its history, in metaphor, 
parable, allegory and beautiful tropes and figures of speech much 
of which the unspiritual mind cannot readily understand. " For 
the natural mind receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for 
they are foolishness to him ; neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned." But the Bible, so much ridiculed 
by skeptics, does not need defense half so much as it needs to be 
understood, which is almost a nopeiess task to the natural and 
carnal mind. There is no perfect book; absolute perfection 
exists nowhere, only in Deity. The Colonel, in portraying the 
mistakes of Moses, not only mistakes Moses but makes mistakes 
himself, some of which I shall endeavor to point out to you 
to-day. While assuring ns of his entire sincerity, he exhibits 
much that is disingenuous. He says : " They say the book is 
inspired. I do not care whether it is or not. The question is, 
is it true ? If true, it does not need to be inspired ; nothing 



212 



Cause of Creation. 



needs inspiration but a falsehood or mistake.'' If this is true, 
the Colonel needs inspiration badly himself, for we find both in 
his eloquent diatribes ; but this is mere play upon words. Inspi- 
ration makes nothing either true or false, and may itself be 
either one or the other. He continues : " The gentleman who 
wrote the Bible begins by telling us that God made the universe 
out of nothing. " Right here, according to the Colonel, is where 
inspiration ought to come in, because the gentleman he speaks of 
tells us no such thing ; and, as the Colonel says, " a lie will not 
fit any thing except another lie made for the express purpose, " 
we must be on the lookout to see where the fittings take place. 
There is little apology for this mistake, as he has education 
enough to know that something cannot be made out of nothing. 
It is disingenuous to make the Book say what it does not. He 
also knows that to change or invest with a new character is to 
create, and this is just what is said in the Book, and no more. 

THE TER^I NOTHING 

was not found there, and was doubtless absent from the thoughts 
of the sacred penman. The next thing he proceeds to tell us is 
" that Grod divided the darkness from the light, and there may 
he in immensity some Being whose wing in the universe exists, 
whose every thought is a glittering star, but I know nothing 
about Him, not the slightest," thus proving the text to be true ; 
but, by dividing the light from the darkness, he may come to 
agree with Spencer and Tyndall. The former says we cannot 
help knowing that such power exists, and the latter admits an 
inscrutable power behind nature, confirming Spencer. As the 
Colonel questions us freely, we shall take with him the same 
liberty, and ask : Has ordinary matter, such as the accidents of 
tree, rock, etc., the power of thought ? You will say no. Then 
I ask : What is it that thinks ? You may reply, as some do, and 
say : It is the action of the gray matter of the brain. We know 
the properties of this gray matter, it is mostly phosphorus and 
electricity. I then ask : Did these think before forming the gray 
matter ? You will say no. I will then ask, how it came to form 
this gray matter, since it could not think how to do it ? You can 
only say, I don't know. Well, you know there was a cause of 
its so forming. Yes, because it is an effect, and there cannot be 
an effect without a cause. It follows, then, that this cause was 
something besides matter. I ask, then, what was it ? You may 



Infidel Mistakes. 



213 



say an inscrutable force in nature. You agree, then, that this 
force is not matter, for matter itself could not think how to make 
matter think \ Well, yes. Well, then, seeing it is not matter, 
it must be a distinct substance from matter, and as it is cause 
underlying all causes, what better name can it have than God I 
Perhaps none. And as this intelligent force, or God, is also 
called Spirit, you must agree that it is not only distinct from mat- 
ter, inscrutable, but all-powerful and unchangeable ; hence, we 
are bound to admit that it is the cause of causes and the power 
of thought, which power, together with reason, He has dele- 
gated to man. Now, as you can know this as well as any one, 
and cannot escape from it, then " come up to the rack like a 
man," and agree that it is the Infinite God, the fountain of in- 
telligence to whom His creatures are accountable. This, then, is 
the God the Bible speaks of, which the Colonel so ignorantly 
ridicules. But it also speaks of God in the subordinate sense, as 
that of Moses, Elijah and Christ, whom the Colonel says he hates ; 
but why should he hate poor mortals because they spake from 
their highest unfolding, or because they were in advance of others 
and were called God ? No good reason can be given why such 
should be hated, nor for hating the Infinite because He did not 
give other inspirations. Now, as we have made him know that 
God exists, we shall undertake to show how much he is mistaken 
in his w T arfare upon the little gods. Before too much side-split- 
ting laughter about God dividing the darkness from the light, we 
should be certain as to which world was meant. All will ac- 
knowledge that it is 

MIGHTILY MIXED 

in the microcosmic world, and in no one part is the mixture more 
complete than it is in the Colonel's own little microcosm. If 
God can separate it there, the Bible statement will be confirmed 
— and the " gentleman who saw Gocl dividing the light from 
the darkness " was not so far wrong as the Colonel imagined. 
But he goes on with false charges, and says : " The gods came 
down to make love to the daughters of men. " This mistake is 
made to " fit in " with the others. The Colonel read too hastily. 
It reads : " The sons of God saw the daughters of men; that 
the}' were fair, and they took wives of whom they chose. " The 
sons of God were those who were called into the Adamic Gospel. 
The daughters of men were outsiders. So their lusts caused 
them to violate Gospel rules ; excluding God's hand in the 



214 



Sun and Moon stand Still. 



matter, they went outside and chose wives for themselves. Again 
he says : "The children of men built a tower to reach the abode 
of the gods. " It seems the Colonel is at the same folly now, 
which must end just as disastrously as theirs did, in great con- 
fusion of tongues, with all the Infidel tower-builders, of whom 
the Colonel seems to be master mason. They will fail to under- 
stand each other. Won't that be sad ? He also found that " the 
sun and moon were stopped a whole day to give a certain general 
more time to kill Amalekites. " It was the general himself that 
performed this feat. This is a true story. Now, let the Colonel 
answer me " without looking around for pictures or poetry. " 
Where were the sun and moon that were addressed by Joshua ? 
Were they up in the blue sky ? The book says they were on 
Gibeon and in the valley of Ajalon. He says he read the book 
for a purpose. Was it for the purpose of warping the language 
and making it say what it does not ? Is this fair ? If the sun and 
moon were where the book says they were, why should he place 
them elsewhere ? What was it that was on Gibeon and in the 
valley ? Answer : Two great Gentile armies, whose assistance 
Joshua refused. They obeyed Joshua and stood still in the midst 
of heaven or happiness for the space of a whole day, to see 
Joshua discomfit their enemies without their assistance. The 
Colonel is not to be blamed for his unbelief here, for he is a 
natural man and cannot yet " receive the things nor workings of 
the spirit of God. They are yet foolishness to him, " but he 
will neither be " roasted nor damned for it. " He is now a star 
of the first magnitude in the infidel constellation, which may yet 
be (using his own metaphor) " a glittering thought of the Infin- 
ite. " It is not objectionable that God first made man male and 
female and afterward made him or them man and wife. If the 
first man was made with intellect and reason from the ground on 
which the animal creation stood, the second was made a spiritual 
man or " living soul " from the dust of the ground on which the 
animo-intellectual man stood, for now God " breathed into him 
the breath of spiritual life and man became a living soul. " This 
is progress from the animal to the intellectual, and from the 
intellectual to the spiritual. The Colonel has taken the first 
degree, but not the second ; that is the reason he " cannot receive 
the things of the Spirit of God. " He sadly needs the spiritual 
inbreathing so that he may be made a living soul, and be in the 
image of God. He facetiously asks us if we " believe in the 



Infidel Mistakes. 



215 



rib-story in getting a wife for Adam ? " We answer we do, but 
do not expect to get the "harp" for this belief. We believe it 
because it is every way consistent and rational. The Colonel has 
education enough to know that the word Adam may mean the 
race or an individual thereof. So while Adam or Adam-kind 
slept, God took therefrom a rib, binder or wife for Adam, and 
closed up the flesh or flesh relation thereof as daughter, and took 
her to Adam for his wife. She coming from the same place that 
Adam did, and being made of the same material, she was bone of 
his bone, and flesh of his flesh — "the twain were one flesh!" 
"Don't you see?" But he further mistakes when he says: 
"You will see by reading the second chapter that God tried to 
palm off on Adam a beast for a helpmeet." We find no such 
proposition hinted at. The Colonel has need to come to the con- 
fessional. He says : "I am probably the only man in the United 
States who has read the Bible through this year." " Jus' so," 
old Si would say ; " I'se jist done readin' 

DE ELEMENTS OB EUCLID, 

an' I is de only man in the XL S. dat has red 'em thro' dis yeah. 
I can see all clem marks an' angles an' pints as well as da can, an' 
da all 'mounts to nuflin', caze dese geometries tells us dat three 
angles of a plain triangle is ekal to two, dat is, two is ekal to 
three. My son Bob knows better 'an dat. I 'monstrates de 
'surdity ob it in dis way : I takes three dollars and lays 'em down 
on de points of de triangle, den I takes two dollars an' lays 'em 
down on de two angles, and I says, sonny, is dese ekal ? ' No, 
sah, de three is de most.' ' You's right, sonny ; rake 'em off.' 
So de 'surdity is 'monstrated." It seems to have been just so 
w T ith the Colonel. He read the Bible all through, and. thought 
he saw all the points and absurdities, and could knock it into 
smithereens and satisfy the world that it was one general, pro- 
longed hoax and fish story, and unworthy of credence, and he 
succeeded just as w T ell as did old Si in solving the problems of 
Euclid, and but very little better. He seemed not to realize the 
magnitude of the task before him, and that it required far more 
labor and study to comprehend it than is required to comprehend 
Euclid. He should have known that no man with prepossession 
against a book is fit to examine it. Such cannot do it justice. 
He goes on in his simple way to say : " God having used up the 
nothing in making Adam, he was compelled to take one of his 



216 



Metaphorical Hornets and Snakes. 



ribs with which to make him a wife." This has been explained. 
I cannot notice all the good points in the Colonel's two discourses 
before me, but will saj his remarks regarding the census or num- 
bering the children of Israel are correct, and to the point. Right 
here the Hebrew consonants must have been misplaced. Will 
add further, that the Colonel has said many things good and true, 
for which I give him thanks. But he mistakes the hornets when 
he says : " Do you believe that God Almighty ever went into 
partnership with hornets ? " A good deal of his irony will be 
moonshine when I inform him that the hornets had just as many 
legs as had our Louisiana Tigers in the late war, and the snakes 
the same as the Copperheads. The Colonel himself makes use of 
such metaphor when he says : " Slimy snakes of lust and hatred." 
Must we consider them to be rattlesnakes ? Be consistent, Colonel. 
But I pass on. The jugglery spoken of is easily explained. The 
rods that were thrown down becoming serpents, were the tortuous 
arguments pro and con. Moses had the best of the argument ; 
the consequence was, his swallowed the others. So all the Colonel's 
" wit and fun fire" are spoiled on this branch of the subject. The 
Colonel, I must say, shows much ignorance of Bible language in 
the latter half of His discourse. He may say I am not warranted 
in thus metaphorizing — but a cunning, crooked argument may 
be called a serpent, just as well as the lust he spoke of can be 
called slimy snakes. He seems not to be able to think of God 
only as some being external to man, perhaps fifty feet high. 
While the Infinite always speaks within, He never did nor ever 
will speak externally to His creatures. If man speaks God's word 
to another it is modified to his highest unfoldment, except it may 
be a medium under spirit control using human organs ; then it is 
the highest unfoldment of such spirit. Part of his discourse, I 
am compelled to say, is silly clap-trap, and undeserving the trouble 
of reply, as he asks many times why did not God do so and so 
and so and so ? He may as well have asked why did God not do 
every thing as I think it should have been done ? But again, to 
his credit I must say, his head sometimes gets quite level. That 
is, when he gets the " light and darkness partially divided." He 
is truthful and right in what he says of the atonement doctrine of 
one man dying for the sins of another ; of the literal blood of 
Christ cleansing any soul. He says his reason for attacking the 
Book is because it teaches this infamous doctrine, and says, " I 
deny it." So do I deny it, and also deny that the Book teaches 



Infidel Mistakes. 



217 



any such doctrine when properly understood. In this the clergy 
preach 

WHAT THE BOOK DOES NOT TEACH. 

The book is right and teaches the very reverse of this. The 
way Christ died for the sins of the world was by dying to sin 
Himself, setting the world an example to follow Him in dying 
the same death. It teaches " the soul that sinneth it shall die ; 
every man shall be rewarded according to his works, not his be- 
liefs, but his works ; they that have done good shall come forth 
to the resurrection of life ; he that committeth sin is of the devil ; 
be ye doers of the work and not idle hearers of the word," and 
much more to the same purpose. It was in bad taste, to say the 
least, for the Colonel to throw a stone at the Saviour for saying 
" Depart from Me ye cursed," etc. Matthew goes on to tell what 
these fellows on the left hand were guilty of. The Colonel 
himself would hardly be willing to keep the company of such. 
See Matt, xxiv, 41. 

The Colonel is to be thanked for admitting that all is not lit- 
eral : and the fact that it was not printed till the year 1448, and 
suffered by the hands of translators, should make us the more 
careful to get its true meaning. The prophet's ravens were 
doubtless of the species homo as well as Sampson's foxes. With 
all its apparent failings the 'Bible was acknowledged by Daniel 
Webster, Dr. Franklin, and many others of the greatest minds of 
this or any other age, to be the Book of Books, nowhere equaled 
in its sublime eloquence, poetry and inspiration ; some of it so 
grand and inspiring it would seem to have been sung out from 
the rolling spheres. O ! nay, Colonel, you need not try to equal 
it. It must be, especially the New Testament, the pole-star of 
the world for at least many thousands years. Though I'm be- 
coming tedious, I need not apologize for reading an extract or 
two from an article just from the pen of the unostentatious, hut 
able founder and leader of the Oneida community, Jno. H. 
Eoyes, confirmatory of what I have said. 

"From Judea the Bible went forth into the Gentile world and 
overturned the idolatrous systems of Rome and the whole Ro- 
man Empire. * * The breaking up of the central 
power of heathenism is fairly attributed to it. 
It is the very heart of all the free movement that is now going 
on in this country. * * It is now the best friend of 
28 



218 



Injuring and Helping God. 



the future and truest opponent of the dead past. * * 
It has proved itself the mightiest enemy of all those systems 
and institutions that have abused mankind. * * * 
Any who will look at its central doctrine will see that nothing 
can satisfy the demand of Bible radicalism short of destroying all 
sin and selfishness and the actual establishment of heaven on 
earth." — [American Socialist, page 244.] No one can success- 
fully gainsay these truths. But the Colonel, being yet a " natural 
man, cannot receive them." He speaks of the children mocking 
a gentleman with short hair, and ridicules the idea of God send- 
ing two she-bears to stop their clatter. It is an easy thing to be 
torn in pieces, while the body is left intact. The tongues of 
those two-legged she-bears doubtless did the tearing in pieces of 
these saucy children, and who does not know how quickly two 
earnest women could settle up with naughty boys ? They were 
doubtless God-directed. The Colonel says he can neither "injure 
nor help God." Now, God is love and goodness in the human 
heart ; it is each one's part so to speak of the infinite : to help 
increase these in any soul is to help God ; to decrease them is to 
injure God in them, not in His wholeness, but in the individual ; 
as the good book says, it is 

"fighting against god." 

So I would say for the Colonel, instead of closing his discourse 
with a quotation from Burns, it would have been more to the 
purpose to have quoted from Moody and Sankey : 
' The mistakes of niy life have been many. '' 

In a subsequent discourse the Colonel has the boldness to say : 
" The reason I say the Bible is not written by any God is because 
I can write a better book myself." Take up the pen, Colonel. If 
true, there's millions in it. The difference between God's and 
man's work, 1 repeat, is this : Whatever is done, man being the 
instrument, which is untainted by any of the lower, animal im- 
pulses, is the work of God, by the influence of his spirit. But the 
contrary is the work of man. So if the penman of the sacred 
volume, in any part thereof, was actuated or influenced by any of 
the lower animal passions or impulses, this part was man's work. 
On the contrary, it was God's. 

Christ spake from the operation of God's spirit acting on the 
higher consciousness; hence His word was the word of God. A great 
many foolish questions may be asked, such as " Why did not God, 
the Infinite, give a perfect word through an imperfect unfolding ? " 



Infidel Mistakes. 



219 



Had he done so, progression would have been at an end. Why 
did He not make man impeccable ? Why did not the Infinite 
Himself write it ? Why did not God create man as perfect as 
Himself? That is, to inquire why man was created at all? 
Any creature f rom the hand of God must be less perfect than Him- 
self ; then there is a road of progression open to him. All the 
multitudinous questions asked by the Colonel, why God did not 
do so and so instead of what He did, exhibit his ignorance of Him 
and establish the truth of the text that " The natural man receiveth 
not the things of the spirit of God, because they are foolishness to 
him." I am compelled, however, to admit that the most of the 
criticisms of the Chicagoan clergy fell still-born. All their flung 
javelins only 

" Played durl upon the bone 
And did no more, " 

while their antagonist walked off with the belt. But all the 
questions put to these clergymen are answerable ; but I must content 
myself with a few which may answer for the rest. He says : " I 
want these ministers to say it, and to say it without evasion or any 
pious construction, whether they believe the Eternal God of the 
Universe ever upheld the crime of polygamy ? " I answer yea. 
Why? because polygamy was progress in the right direction. 
It was one step forward from animal promiscuity where the beast 
with the longest horns took the prey. All those who came into 
this regulation obeyed God in so doing. When light is 
insufficient to bind men to one wife, it w T ere better to be 
bound to three than to be led by unrestrained passion bound 
to none ; but to go back from one wife to three is progress in the 
wrong direction. One wife was the next step upward ; and no 
wife with a perfect restraint of the animal which was introduced 
by Christ when the angel life began, was and is the highest. So, 
Colonel, " if thou wouldst be perfect go sell that thou hast and give 
to the poor, and come take up the cross and follow me." Then 
we might expect the Colonel, instead of telling what he hated, to 
tell his audience to " love their enemies, to do good for evil, and 
when smitten on one cheek to turn the other, to resist not evil, to 
love and do good to those who hate you and despitef ully use you, " 
etc., etc. Then his happiness would be of the angel kind, instead 
of the animal, with which he now seems content. The same may 
be said of slavery as of polygamy. No part of the world has yet 
been . freed from it. The United States has many thousands in 



220 



Slavery of To -day. 



her jails and penitentiaries, and still more, soldiers who are the 
most abject slaves, and the white slavery at the North under a 
cloak of pretended freedom is but little less odious than was the 
black slavery in the South, and the Colonel himself is a slaveholder 
if lie has a waiting maid to do his bidding, and the only hope of 
deliverance is that some time in the long ages the whole world 
may be gathered into grand communities of equal members and 
equal rights and obligations, natural and spiritual — one the order 
of nature — lower-floor — one the order of grace — upper-floor — 
one for generation freed from its common abuses — the other for 
regeneration to wholly spiritualize and complete the happiness that 
was barely begun below. But now, any one holding another in 
any of these phases of slavery who is wholly actuated by philan- 
thropic motives is God-directed. Now I have answered the 
Colonel on the square without " going off into any rhetoric or 
fire works." Bat the Colonel, in his maidenish simplicity, still 
harps about God outside of his creatures, whom he saddles with 
all that he now conceives to be wrong, and whom he hates invet- 
erately, when none such exists only in his fancy. But he mounts 
the tower which he has builded, and dares and 

DEFIES ALL THE GODS, 

little and big, and tells them to their faces how much he hates 
them for ordering men to kill the babies of their enemies and old 
men and women, and saving the maids to satisfy their animal 
passions. In this he reminds me of a noted darkey when the light- 
ning killed his little daughter. He carried her into his cabin and 
mourned over her, but got madder and madder at the thunder god, 
finally threw off his coat, bared his head and walked out into the 
storm, and looking up at the clouds he told God how cowardly 
it was to " come down and kill dat little lamb," and added, " You 
think you done a great thing in doin' dat. Now I dar's you, jis- 
come clown and try your han' on old Sam." After waiting a rea- 
sonable time, and God didn't come, he went back into his cabin 
to his lubbin wife, one whom, like the Colonel, he lubbed better 
than any God, and said : " Kate, I dar'd God, but he wouldn't 
come ; da all knows da ar' gettin' into business when da tackles 
old Sam." I presume the Colonel felt himself quite as much of 
a hero after defying all the gods of the universe, and none came 
to defend themselves. But this hating either Deity or His instru- 
ments for any thing that now seems wrong to us is folly. The 
Colonel himself, when he speaks from the highest instead of the 



Infidel Mistakes. 



221 



lower impulse, speaks God's word to him. as imperfect as it is. 
Should we hate either him or God in consequence of it ? Not at 
all. What is applicable to him is applicable to others. He 
accuses the Bible of teaching witchcraft, and says that " God 
made a trade with the devil, and sent evil spirits out of men into 
pigs, and then drowmed the pigs ! God got a corner on that." 
I would inform him that the swinish multitude that were too 
much of hogs to hear the Saviour into whom the evil spirits 
entered, on hearing his testimony, fled and ran down the preci- 
pice of vice and was drowned in the great sea of humanity. 
That's the corner that God got in this transaction. If the Colonel 
would subdue his irony and strive as hard to make people serious 
as he does to make them laugh, he might do great good in the 
world, for many fine talents are given him. Equally mistaken is 
he in regard to Jephtha's daughter, whose vow was to give to the 
Lord and not to man. His great regret was that she could not 
have offspring, but had to remain a virgin unto the Lord, and 
as the book says, " Jephtha did according to his vow, and she 
knew no man." This is fire enough, and this only was the burnt 
offering and the sadness of the story all told. So we think well 
of the man who was true to his vow, and also well of the Lord 
who accepted the offering. But we cannot follow the Colonel 
through all his questions, but enough have been answered to sat- 
isfy the general demand. He seems to be partially insane on 
the woman subject. He says : " If there is a pure thing on 
earth — a picture of infinite purity — it is 

A MOTHER WITH A CHILD 

in her arms." A baboon would think the identical same thing, 
and with as good a show of reason. Would he say a harlot, who 
had conceived and had a child in her arms, was the picture of 
infinite purity ? She is a woman and had her babe by the same 
process of all others. What can the Colonel say about that ? Is 
that a purifying process or a contaminating one ? Come, Colonel, 
yes or no. Don't run off into pictures of woman's love and 
beauty. Answer square. Is the harlot's a purifying, angel-like 
process ? " Honor bright," say : Pure and holy or sensual and 
animal ? No grunting ; " walk up to the rack and answer on the 
square." He objects strongly that the Jews considered it im- 
pure. But I think the Jews have " a corner on this." Bruin 
thinks just as highly of it as the Colonel possibly can. He seems 



222 



Breath of Spiritual Life. 



to have no more idea that any impurity attends any part of the 
process of generation than a tom-cat. "Yes," he exultingly 
says, " I think more of a. good woman with a child (I presume 
he hates a virgin) than I do of all the gods I have heard the 
people tell about." I do not doubt the truth of this assertion, 
because he is a natural man only, and receiveth not the things 
of the Spirit of God " — can see nothing above the animal plane. 
But we neither blame nor hate him for it ; all he needs is a 
higher unfolding of Spirit with his brilliant intellect. Then he 
will learn that he himself was " conceived in sin and brought 
forth in iniquity." He badly needs an Adamic creation, and 
that God should breathe into his soul the breath of spiritual life, 
so that he, like Adam, may become a living soul. To this end 
we pray the Father. 



82 5 ' * 




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